'I will miss you so much': Sergio Busquets becomes first Barcelona player to publicly bid farewell Lionel Messi after bombshell news of his departure...claiming it will be 'difficult' to be at the club without the Argentine superstar Sergio Busquets is the first Barcelona player to publicly bid farewell Lionel Messi Barca announced they would not be re-signing the Argentine on Thursday night They cited 'financial and structural obstacles' as the reason for the decision Busquets has since said it will be 'difficult' to be at Barcelona without Messi He also thanked his team-mate for his service to the club over his 21-year career By Charlotte Daly For Mailonline Published: 21:30 BST, 6 August 2021 | Updated: 21:32 BST, 6 August 2021 Viewcomments Sergio Busquets is the first Barcelona player to publicly bid farewell Lionel Messi after the Catalan giants announced they would not be re-signing the Argentine superstar. Messi was expected to re-sign with the club following positive initial talks between all parties but Barcelona stated that they were unable to renew his contract due to 'financial and structural obstacles'. Busquets has since come out to say it will be 'difficult' to be at Barcelona without his team-mate and thanked him for his service to the club. Sergio Busquets (R) is the first Barcelona player to publicly bid farewell Lionel Messi (L) Busquets took to Instagram to share a collage of pictures with him team-mate and friend. The accompanying caption read: 'Still trying to assimilate everything and knowing how difficult it will be, I can only thank you for what you have done for the club and for those who have accompanied you in these years and specifically towards me. 'You arrived as a child and you are the best player in history, having made this club grow to the height that it deserves and making history individually and collectively. 'I can always say that I played and shared many moments with you, most of them very good and I was lucky to grow up and enjoy 13 seasons with you. 'Beyond all this I remain with the person and the friendship that we made, I will miss you a lot. 'I can only wish you and your family the best because you deserve it, you will be missed.' Busquets is set to takeover from Messi as Barcelona's captain following the Argentine's shock departure. However, he will have a lot to live up to as Messi became Barcelona's record scorer with 672 goals including 120 Champions League goals and a record 474 LaLiga goals. He also managed 10 LaLiga titles, four Champions Leagues and seven Copa del Reys. Messi's contribution also saw him claim the European Golden Shoe award for the continent's top scorer on six occasions. Share or comment on this article: All rights reserved for this news site (dailymail) and under his responsibility