Spanish central defender Gerard Pique has renewed his contract with Barcelona until 2022 and spoke about a decision he would’ve made had he not signed.
Spanish central defender and former La Masia graduate Gerard Piqué has agreed to renew with Barcelona after a bit of speculation. The stalwart of the Barca defense will have a new contract that runs through June 2022. In addition to that, his buyout clause has been agreed to and it is at an astounding 500 million euros according to the official club statement. However, he is that valuable to the Blaugrana and their success over the time since his return from Manchester United.
The central defender is still one of the best in the world in his position at 30 years old. In addition to that, he has won every possible club trophy for the Blaugrana. He has 3 Champions Leagues titles , 6 La Liga titles, 5 Copa Del Rey trophies, 5 Spanish Super Cups, 3 European Super Cups and 3 Club World Cups. Overall, he has 25 trophies over the 422 games he’s played for Barca.
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In addition to the trophies and great defense, he has 37 career goals. This season he has consistently been used under Ernesto Valverde, with 25 appearances and 2 goals in the 2017-18 campaign across all competitions. He joined Barca in 1997 when he was 10 and then moved to Manchester United in 2004 and spent a season on loan to Real Zaragoza.
When he came back to the Blaugrana in 2008, Pep Guardiola used him in central defense where he became one of the best in the world. Since then he has played under Valverde, Luis Enrique, Tata Martino, and Tito Vilanova. If he didn’t renew, he wasn’t going to sign with any other club. He considered retirement at age 30. Pique talked about this during the unveiling of the news that he re-signed.
"“I hope that it stays the same until I retire. It was Barca or nothing. I don’t want to be anywhere else that isn’t here. I’m not motivated to play for another club. I play football to play for Barca. If I was at another team, I would have retired from football. I hope it won’t be my last [deal]. To end my career here is something I have always wanted since I came back [from Man United] in 2008. I want to enjoy this moment, this day… and this season, which is going well but we have to keep going because there’s a long way to go.”Gerard Pique on renewing with Barcelona"
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Overall, Gerard Pique has given everything to Barcelona over his time with the club. The fans love him even when rivals fans don’t. He continues to be jeered in away stadiums mostly for some of the comments he’s made about other teams and players. In the end, he represents the Blaugrana the right way and hopefully he continues to be on top form as the season progresses to the tough stages.