Roughly one-third of the way through the La Liga season, Gerard Piqué is hanging up his boots.
The 35-year-old defender, a Barcelona legend, has announced that Saturday’s match between his side and Almería will be his last, bringing a close to an 18-year career largely spent playing for his boyhood club.
It’s an abrupt ending to a storied career. Retirements usually come at the end of a season, not barely one-third of the way into the year’s slate of games. It’s especially odd given that Barcelona spent an entire summer flailing around trying to solve their financial woes, which included pressuring players to leave.
Piqué reportedly took two different pay cuts over the past 15 months to reduce some of the pressure on the club. While he has not necessarily been first-choice for Xavi this season, Piqué has still started five times out of a possible 18, and has nine appearances overall.
Piqué announced his retirement on social media Thursday, with a farewell video featuring home video of him as a child interspersed with plenty of shots of him playing for Barca.
Culers, us he de dir una cosa. pic.twitter.com/k3V919pm1T
— Gerard Piqué (@3gerardpique) November 3, 2022
“I’ve always been a Barca fan,” said Piqué. “From a very young age, I didn’t want to become a football player. I wanted to be a Barca player.”
Piqué added that “I’ve always said there would not be any other team after Barca, and that’s how it will be. This Saturday’s game will be my last at Camp Nou.”
Piqué’s career began at La Masia, but landing his first professional contract required leaving the club. Piqué headed to Manchester United, making his debut in 2004 but only played sporadically during his four years with the Red Devils. A one-season loan to Real Zaragoza saw him make something of a breakthrough, and Barcelona brought him home following the 2007-08 season for a £5 million fee.
The timing couldn’t have been better. Pep Guardiola was announced as the club’s new manager later that summer, and Piqué would grow into a crucial cog in the side that pioneered the tiki-taka style of play. A year later, he made his debut for Spain, and went on to accumulate 102 caps along with winner’s medals from the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012.
At a club level, Piqué was part of eight La Liga-winning sides, and won the Champions League three times. He was also on the Man United squad that won the Premier League and Champions League double in 2007-08. He was named to UEFA’s Team of the Season five times, and to the FIFPRO World 11 on four occasions.
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