This is totally unexpected news that Gerard Piqué has just announced on Thursday, November 3, by posting a video on his various social networks. The 35-year-old defender, under contract with FC Barcelona until 2024, said he would play the very last match of his career at Camp Nou on Saturday, in La Liga against Almeria. “I want to tell you that I have decided to end my journey“, he explained in a video in which he addresses Barca fans.
The timing is all the more surprising since Pique was still playing a Champions League match as captain with Barça on Tuesday against Viktoria Plzen. The defender is also on Luis Enrique’s pre-list of 55 Spanish players selectable for the World Cup in Qatar (20 November-18 December). Pique will therefore not see Doha, nor the end of the current season.
After 616 games played with FC Barcelona, the Barcelonian will therefore say goodbye to the supporters of the Catalan club, before perhaps playing the very last meeting of his career next Tuesday on the lawn of Osasuna. “I always said there would be no other team after Barca. And it will be“, he said in his video. After leaving FC Barcelona at the age of 17 in 2004, to join Manchester United, Pique returned to Catalonia in 2008 to win all possible trophies.
Culers, us he de dir una cosa. pic.twitter.com/k3V919pm1T
— Gerard Pique (@3gerardpique) November 3, 2022
Winner of three Champions League and eight Spanish championships with Barça, Piqué also made history with the Spanish selection. In 102 wrappers with the Rojahe won the World Cup in 2010, then the Euro in 2012. A Barça player since 2008, he extended his contract in October 2020, to continue his career at least until 2024.
Jack-of-all-trades, Pique will have plenty to take care of at the end of his football career. “I sleep four or five hours a night“, he explained in 2019. A true businessman, the Spaniard has embarked on different businesses, creating several companies in various sectors (eSports, energy drinks, sunglasses, food, real estate, etc.).
One of them, Kosmos Holding, bought the Davis Cup, a tennis tournament on the professional circuit, in 2019. Very involved, passionate about racket sports, Pique has notably started a considerable reform of the tournament, which has been criticized in part.
The other highly publicized aspect of Pique’s career has been his relationship with Colombian singer Shakira. The couple with two children shared twelve years together, before separating last July. “Our separation is incredibly difficult“, assured Pique in September.
Once a champion, always a champion #FIFAWorldCup | @3gerardpique pic.twitter.com/gQjf1Oix7L
— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) November 3, 2022
From a purely sporting point of view, Pique will remain one of the best central defenders of the turn of the late 2000s, member of the UEFA team of the year five times (2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2016). Fifth player with the most games in the history of Barça, he is considered a living legend of the Catalan club. In conclusion, he also warned his supporters: “You know me, sooner or later I’ll be back“.