GERARD PIQUÉ
Born on February 2, 1987 in Barcelona. At ten he was already wearing the Barça shirt for the pride of his family and, especially, his grandfather Amador Bernabéu, who at that time, 1997, was a director of the club, in the Board of Josep Lluís Núñez. He started in the alevín A and climbed steps until he reached the juvenile A. In cadet B, he coached Tito Vilanova and played alongside Leo Messi, Cesc Fàbregas and Víctor Vázquez, among others. Although, due to its size and faculties, he acted preferentially in the center of the defense, during his stay in baseball Blaugrana always showed great versatility and ease of adaptation to any position. And an unusual goal scoring for a player of its characteristics. That is how the complete fullback we know today and who combines strength, elegance, ease to get the ball from behind and excellent passing game in the two areas was forged.
At the end of the 2003-04 season the bombing occurred. At the age of 17 he decided to accept an offer from Manchester United, a club he had been following for some time. Gerard did not see clear his future in the Barça and decided to undertake the English adventure … although with the illusion of returning one day to the club of his loves.
Sir Alex Ferguson, who endorsed his hiring, seemed to have full confidence in him. In a few months he went from playing in the youthful Blaugrana to sharing costumes with the great stars of the entity of Old Trafford although, yes, he acted every week in the reserve team. In October 2004 he officially debuted in a match of the third round of the Carling Cup (League Cup) against Crewe Alexandra, Third. But his ‘première’ as a starter in the League would not reach until March 26, 2006, in a match against West Ham United. At the end of that campaign he won the European Championship sub’19 with Spain in Poland.
Given that he did not enter too much into Ferguson’s plans, he accepted his assignment to Real Zaragoza for the 2006-07 season. And in La Romareda it was an excellent campaign, either sharing the axis of the rear with Gaby Milito, well acting as a defensive pivot. He played 22 league games and scored two goals. The Aragonese team won a place in the UEFA Cup thanks to their sixth place. And Gerard returned to Manchester integrating definitively in the first team. All the illusion of the world to succeed as ‘red devil’ but the Scottish manager just entered the team. He played only a dozen official matches throughout the season. Of course, was a participant in the achievement of the titles of Premier and Champions.
It was then when the Barça valued the possibility of his return. The predisposition of Piqué was total and with five million euros was convinced to United. On May 27, 2008, he signed a contract for 4 years, with a termination clause of 50 million. On February 26, 2010, it was extended until 2015, raising the clause to 200 million.
From the first moment, Pep Guardiola trusted him completely and Gerard did not disappoint him becoming a defense team of a team that wrote, in season, one of the most glorious pages in the history of the club achieving the League, Cup and Champions, in addition to winning in the Bernabéu by a stratospheric 2-6, with his goal included. Piqué became the third player to win the top European competition two years in a row with two different teams emulating Desailly and Paulo Sousa. Then Eto’o joined.
In that unforgettable 2009, Piqué debuted with the national team, against England played on February 11 in Seville. And it would be the protagonist of a historic and unprecedented milestone, the achievement of six titles in a single year, and that Barça will also conquer the Super Cups of Spain and Europe and, for the first time, the Club World Cup From that historic ‘sextete’, and with Guardiola on the bench, Gerard won another eight titles of Blaugrana. And nothing less than a World Cup (2010) and a Euro Cup (2012) with the ‘red’. In the final stages of both competitions he was the undisputed holder. Now he is ready to sing a new alirón in the league, with Tito Vilanova and Jordi Roura on the bench.
His relationship with the archifamous Colombian singer Shakira has turned him into a media character, target of the pink press. Fortunately, he has managed to carry it with aplomb and naturalness and has had no problems in showing images of his private life. Even his son Milan.