Former Manchester United and Barcelona defender’s retirement announcement on Thursday shocked the football community.
Gerard Pique, who was one of the top center backs of the previous ten years, announced his departure via social media.
Nobody anticipated the news, even the media and Pique’s teammates.
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Although a November retirement in the middle of the season is unusual, the reasons behind the decision start to make sense.
Below are the reasons why Pique is retiring from football.
His marital issuesÂ
The footballer’s recent breakup from Shakira hasn’t made things better. His alleged affair and subsequent relationship with Clara Chia have made news about his private life.
Already, Shakira has written two songs that appear to be critical of him.
Pique has also been harmed by the custody dispute over their kids.
Pique would be unable to see his children if Shakira decided to go to America permanently, which would pain him greatly.
Above everything else, his family comes first, and he won’t leave them behind to continue playing in Barcelona.
Lack of minutes for Pique
Gerard Pique was his team’s fifth-choice center-back this season behind Ronald Araujo, Eric Garcia, Andreas Christensen, and Jules Kounde, and his coach did not place much of an emphasis on him.
The Catalan has only had minutes this season because all of his colleagues have been injured; otherwise, he would not have had any.
He has participated in nine games, logging a total of 555 minutes across LaLiga Santander and the Champions League.
The central defender has struggled and made a lot of mistakes in the few games he has played, which even led to his supporters whistling at him.
Even though Xavi had already warned him it would be challenging, Pique was nevertheless willing to give up. But he now realizes that he was unable to.
The club wanted him to depart
One of the catalysts was the criticism Pique endured during the encounter between Barcelona and Inter.
The central defender was angry with the supporters and the team because he had not anticipated this major setback.
Since the club wanted him to depart because of his high pay and to make room for more new recruits, many of the comments came from them.
To avoid things getting worse, Pique personally told Joan Laporta that he wished to leave the club.
His expanding commercial empire
Pique’s attention has recently been diverted from the field of play by his expanding business empire in addition to his passion for sport.
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The fans were not pleased when he organized the Davis Cup while his team was competing, and he has been investing in a number of other businesses.
He claims in his farewell video that “sooner or later, I’ll be returning,” which puts him in the presidential box.
After Pique retires, anything is possible, according to persistent rumors that he might become the club’s president.
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