Barcelona defender Gerard Pique has suddenly decided to retire from playing football.
Pique, 35, revealed Thursday evening via a video he posted on social media, said Barcelona’s Saturday match against Almeria in the La Liga will be his last at Camp Nou for the Catalan club after 14 years in the first team following his return from Manchester United in 2008.
Barca then travel to Osasuna next week for their final fixture before the World Cup in Qatar.
Pique’s grandfather was on the board at Barcelona, and Pique joined the club’s academy in 1997 before leaving for Man United in 2004.
After four years in Manchester, which included a season-long loan back in Spain with Real Zaragoza, and 23 first-team appearances for the English side, he returned to Barca in 2008.
Under Pep Guardiola, he was part of the side that won the treble in the 2008-09 season and he will depart having won eight La Liga titles and three Champions Leagues, among many other trophies.
He also won the World Cup in 2010 and the 2012 European Championship during a nine-year career with Spain, during which time he earned 102 caps before retiring from international football after the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
Pique who would turn 36 in January 2023 was ever-present in his first 14 seasons with the first team but has fallen down the pecking order this year following the signing of centre-backs Andreas Christensen and Jules Kounde.
Despite being fifth choice in his position, with Ronald Araujo and Eric Garcia also ahead of him, Pique has still made nine appearances in all competitions so far this season because of injuries elsewhere.
However, following the 3-3 draw against Inter Milan last month, when Pique was singled out for criticism, left-back Marcos Alonso has been used in front of him in defence, prompting him to consider retiring mid-season despite having a contract until 2024.
Barca had told Pique in the summer that minutes would be hard to come by this season as they looked to either move on or reduce the salaries of some of the veterans, including Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba.
Pique, Busquets and Alba have all readjusted their salaries and agreed to reductions and deferrals on their wages at various points in recent years to help the club deal with a difficult financial situation.
However, with deferred payments due, their salaries take up a large chunk of Barca’s budget in comparison to how many minutes they have been playing under Xavi this season.
