Last November, Gerard Pique confirmed that he would be retiring at Barcelona, his childhood club. On November 5, he made his 616th and last appearance for the Blaugranain what was also the 769th professional game of his career. The veteran defender wasused sparingly this season due to his lack of playing time, but he was called upon after Ronald Araujo, and two new arrivals’ Jules Kounde, and Andreas Christensen were all sidelined with injuries.
Theiradditionhadpushed the Spaniarddown Xavi’s depth chart to fifth-string center defense.Despite the fact that Barca has been decimated by injuries, hestill managed to make 10 appearances across all competitions in the 2022-23 term. “People already know that I started the season with a conversation with Xavi, who told me that it was going to be difficult for me to play. The feelings from the beginning were not the best in general and I saw that the break was an opportunity to have that decision.
“I have always said that when I was not important I would leave.If there had been no injuries in my position, I would have left before. I no longer felt as I felt before. There was a day of training at Camp Nou after a game in which I was about to say ‘I’m leaving now’.I saw that it was no longer my place. When [other players] started to get injured, I said ‘I can’t leave the team’. That’s why I set the break of the World Cup,” the 35-year-old explained recently onTwitch.
Where could Gerard Pique play next after soccer retirement with Barcelona?
In front of a packed Camp Nou, Gerard Piquebroke down in tears as Barcelona players and their fans said goodbye to him last November. Although it is commonly known that the former defenderenjoys activities outside of soccer, Spanish publicationRelevo claims that he misses the game he has played weekly for as long as he can recall.
Pique has been quite active lately because of the King’s Leaguethat he and prominent streamer Ibai Llanos have established. The premiere of a seven-a-side league including celebrities and other soccer personalities drew enormous audiences over the weekend. It is believed that there is achance he will even play himself in that league.
However, less than three months after calling it quits, it seems he isalready pondering a comeback. Pique is the owner of the Andorra second division team and has shown interest in joining the squad.In the Spanish structure, the club played in the fifth division. However, at the conclusion of the 2018-19 season, they earned a promotion to the fourth division
After a few weeks, the club paid over €500,000 to replace a team that had been sanctioned for failing to pay their players and move up to the third division of Spanish soccer, Segunda Division B. After 80 years of existence, they finally made it to the Segunda Division in May2022.