Barcelona's day went from bad to worse after they were knocked out of the European Championship by Inter. There is a time and a place for it.
When the Spanish league stops for the World Cup this month, Barcelona defender Gerard Pique will call it quits.
After 14 years in the first team following his return from Manchester United, Pique says Saturday's match will be his last at Camp Barcelona.
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Next week, Barcelona will travel to Osasuna for their final game before the World Cup.
The last few weeks, people have been talking about me. I want to be the one who's talking about me now that I've said nothing before.
I have been a fan of Barcelona for a long time. My family loved football. I wanted to play for Barcelona from a very young age.
I have been thinking a lot about that child. He would be a European and world champion if he'd been told he'd play for Barcelona.
He would become one of the team's captains if he played with the best players in history. Everything has been given to me by football. The fans gave me everything. I want to let you know that I have decided that now is the time to bring this journey to a close.
There will be no other team after Barcelona. It will be my last game at Camp Nou.
I will support the team and my love for the club will be passed on to my kids. I will be back soon. You can see us at Camp Nou. Always and forever.
Culers, us he de dir una cosa. pic.twitter.com/k3V919pm1T
— Gerard Piqué (@3gerardpique) November 3, 2022
The grandson of a Barcelona board member joined the club's academy before moving to Man United.
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 Barcelona.
He was a part of the team that won the treble in the 2008 season, and he will be leaving to join another team.
He was a member of the Spain team that won the World Cup in 2010 and the European Championship in 2012 before retiring after the World Cup in Russia.
In his first 14 seasons with the first team, Pique was always present but has fallen down the pecking order this year after the signing of centre-backs.
Despite being fifth choice in his position, he has still made nine appearances this season because of injuries elsewhere.
After the 3-3 draw against Inter Milan last month, left-back Marcos Alonso has been used in front of him in defence, prompting him to consider retiring at the end of the season.
As they looked to either move on or reduce the salaries of some of the veterans, Barcelona told Pique in the summer that minutes would be hard to come by.
In order to help the club deal with a difficult financial situation, Pique, Busquets, and Alba have all adjusted their salaries.
With deferred payments due, their salaries take up a large chunk of Barcelona's budget compared to how many minutes they have been playing.
Sources were unable to confirm if the money owed to him was going to be given up or if an agreement had been reached with Barcelona.
There are a number of other interests for the 36 year old. He is the owner of second-division side Andorra and his company is called Kosmos.
He has said in the past that he will run for Barcelona president once he retires, but that is not something he will do.
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