Of all the positions in a typical football formation, the most neglected and overlooked is the holding midfield or the defensive midfield role. And Sergio Busquets is not just any other defensive midfielder, he is the best you can find nowadays. Yet he is regularly overlooked in favor of other attacking-minded players in awards and nominations.

This very important, however much marginalized role, produced some legendary players over the years. Claude Makélélé, Lothar Matthäus, Patrick Vieira, Didier Deschamps and Edgar Davids to name a few. Barca’s very own Busquets may find himself in the company of the aforementioned greats before he retires. After all he has won it all -- the World Cup, Euro Cup, UEFA Champions League, La Liga -- and has plenty of time to manage a few more.

He is a gem of a player. Ever graceful in possession, he rarely loses the ball, and does so mostly upon being fouled. It’s practically impossible to snatch the ball from him. The way he manages those fake passes are a treat to the eyes. And he manages an astounding 85 to 90 percent pass accuracy each year.

Josep Guardiola called him the best defensive midfielder in the world. Vicente del Bosque said he would like to have been reincarnated as Busquets. Xavi thinks the success Barça are now enjoying and are used to wouldn’t have been possible without him.

The young Sergio was so talented that he forced players like Seydou Keita and the Ivorian tank Yaya Touré to the bench resulting in the latter moving to Manchester City. He is only 27 and the best is yet to come.

Sitting in front of the two center backs, he played the pivot role to near perfection under Guardiola, his duty being to intercept and stop counters and also act as as a third center half when both the wing backs were high up the pitch and unable to track back. Andrés Iniesta and Xavi Hernandez lined up just in front of him and so Busquets was hardly required to join in the attacks as much he is now.

Part of the team’s midfield for the best part of last decade, Barcelona struggle whenever Busquets struggles. So much so was evident during Tata Martino’s reign when he was a bit off-color and it was enough for the team to go trophyless after so long.

However he has stepped up several notches since Luis Enrique arrived. Once a defending player supporting Barça’s backline, he now actively takes part in attacks; beginning plays and assisting or providing the pre-assist.

His importance to the team is only growing by the day. As per WhoScored, he averages 2.1 interceptions and 2.75 tackles a game in the 2015/16 season. On the attacking side, after receiving the ball from the back, he has used his immaculate vision to put through balls for the forwards to pounce on many occasions this season. The best example yet is the assist to Luis Suárez’s goal in Club World Cup final. His strong point however is to play short passes and move higher up the pitch looking for openings and capitalizing when the opportunity arises. Yes, he does remind us of the legendary Claude Makélélé owing to their similarity in style of play.

So much about him and so it seems quite unfair that year after year, he doesn’t get the recognition he so richly deserves. After winning a treble for the second time in his career and finishing the year with five trophies in total, he wasn’t even selected to for the UEFA Team of the Year or the Ballon d’Or 23-men shortlist. But he doesn’t care. He says he is more inclined towards team trophies and that for individual awards the more famous players have the upper hand. Well, who could argue with that? Busquets is usually reserved and keeps himself away from the spotlight.

As long as he keeps up his rich vein of form and performs up to his established standards, Barça can hope to continue to dominate its rivals. He was promoted as the third captain of the first team this season and with it comes increased responsibility. That has shown in the pitch as he continues to build flawlessly from the back and now argues and pleads with the referees during the games while standing up for his teammates.

With around 25 titles in his pocket, Busquets hopes to lead Barça and Spain to a few more before he does eventually hang up his boots. And that will be the day football will lose a once-in-a-generation type of player.