Former Barcelona captain and Spanish defender Gerard Pique is a name that will never be forgotten. The player was a great captain and one of the best defenders Barcelona has ever had. The Spaniard was a part of Barcelona’s La Masia academy, and he has won the treble twice with the club. During the 14 years he remained there, Gerard Pique appeared in 610 games and scored 51 goals.
The legendary defender had an incident in his career where he revealed his salary to the whole world. The numbers were not what the fans expected, and it shook everyone.
Gerard Pique once set the record straight with an astonishing pay slip disclosure
It is common for elite football players to be paid huge sums of money. People expect that they must be getting millions every month, but that is not always the case. A Spanish TV3 programme named “Onze” revealed three players’ salaries in January 2020; Gerard Pique was one of them. Onze claimed that the Spanish captain was earning £450,000 per week at Barcelona, making his annual income £11.7 million.
Gerard Pique instantly dismissed all of these claims by sharing his bank statement, showing the world 50% of his annual salary, which was £2 million. In the caption, he took a dig at Spanish journalist Lluis Canut, who made these bizarre claims.
“Characters like this charging public television to defend their friends,” he wrote. “Here is 50% of my payroll collected on December 30th. Have some respect for yourself.”
When did Gerard Pique leave Barcelona?
Gerard Pique’s retirement from the club was not anticipated by anyone. On November 3, 2022, he posted, “Culers, I have to tell you something,” and announced that he would be leaving the club. Everyone, from fans to players, was surprised by this. Even the club’s president, Joan Laporta, admitted that he did not have any information about this.
The club was not giving Pique enough game time, he was mostly being used as a substitute, and the veteran did not like that. In an interview, he admitted that the reason he decided to leave was because he was not feeling as important as he used to.
“I retired because I had already said that when I didn’t enjoy it and didn’t feel important, I would quit,” he said “I didn’t feel as important as I had felt throughout my career. It was a complicated last few months”.
Gerard Pique’s retirement broke many Barcelona fans’ hearts, but he does not regret his decision. He is happy that he got to choose when he retires, and that was enough for him.
