Transfer rumours are flying around the football world but one player who won’t be moving clubs for the foreseeable future is Barcelona defender Gerard Pique.
The Spanish international has signed a new four-year contract with the Catalans until 30 June 2022 and his buyout clause has been set at €500million (£441.5m).
After joining Barcelona’s academy in 1997 at the age of ten, Pique left for Manchester United in 2004 where he gained Premier League experience and enjoyed a loan spell back in Spain with Zaragoza.
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Since returning to Barca in 2008 he has been part of the club’s major success both domestically and in Europe. Pique has played 442 matches for Barcelona and has won three Champions Leagues, six La Liga titles, five Copa del Reys, five Spanish Supercopas, three European Supercups and three Club World Cups during his time at the Camp Nou.
The 30-year-old has made 25 appearances and scored two goals for Ernesto Valverde’s side this season.
Copa del Rey: Espanyol 1 Barcelona 0
Barcelona are nine points clear of Atletico Madrid at the top of the La Liga table but last night they suffered a 1-0 defeat at rivals Espanyol in the Copa del Rey quarter-final first-leg.
Lionel Messi missed a penalty as Oscar Melendo scored the winning goal to end Barca’s 29-game unbeaten run. Despite the loss Pique believes his side can turn things around in next Thursday’s second leg at the Camp Nou.
“If you could choose a day to lose, it might have been today,” Pique said after the Catalan derby. “Because in a week we can turn things around at Camp Nou. The penalty [miss] affected us too much. From there, the game went in a direction we didn’t want and we complicated things.
“We will approach the second leg differently. From the first minute, we will press high, we will try to create a lot of chances and hopefully the home support drives us on.”