Piqué: "It was Barça or nothing"

The center-back explains that had he not renewed, he would most likely have left football due to lack of motivation to wear another shirt

As a teenager, shortly before packing for Manchester because Sir Alex Ferguson claimed at United, Gerard Piqué discovered a crack in the Camp Nou, which no longer exists, where to sneak. So, on a couple of occasions, naughty as he was, he crossed to sit on the stand and watch in silence or with a couple of friends the stadium where he dreamed of playing. He seemed to lose the train to go to England, but a few years later, after it shone in his transfer to Zaragoza, it was Pep Guardiola who understood that he needed a defender to take the clean ball from behind, capable of driving to provoke the rival and generate gaps, also passes that overcome pressure lines.

"I will go to another Nike team", joked the player at that time to his friends the days before the official transfer, implying that Juve - who also wanted him - could be destiny. But the fax machine that arrived at his home in Alderley Edge, just outside Manchester, was from Barça. And, since then, he has only thought about Barça. He even asked his representative to never again have possible offers from other teams. "Yes, that's how it was. But we have not had to listen to anything either because it's Barça or nothing. If you had not signed the renewal or if you played in another club, the most normal thing is to leave it. I do not have the motivation to wear another shirt. "

Dressed in a classic suit and a matching tie, Piqué celebrated its renewal yesterday until 2022. To fulfill the contract, he would complete 14 seasons in the first team - in addition to seven in the Barca youth academy -, where he has won 29 titles for 15 of Madrid at the same time. "Do you embody this period of change?" They asked. "No, no," he replied instantly; "Leo embodies it and we follow him and try to help him". And, although he admitted that it is important to have a competitive team as before - "Since we arrived we have not had a bad year, we have always won at least one title - he also hissed that I would have given him so much because Barça is everything in his football career. "It has not been difficult to renew," said the president, Josep Maria Bartomeu; "And I make a joke, but I think it will not be his last renewal." The central witness picked up. "We'll see how I feel then, but it's more of a head than physically, because you have to look for the desire to compete. And if I continue like this, we will continue, "he resolved. And who knows what is his end in the club, because he never hid his desire to be president.

He added: "Everyone has a role. Not to wear it I will have more weight. Whether or not captain, I will be the same, I will help the same. It's a procedure, it's the fourth captain. It does not matter so much. " The important thing, just as he celebrated with his family at the Hoffman restaurant after the act-a tradition-that was to continue as a Barca player and play on that lawn with which he dreamed as a child from the stands of the Camp Nou, he already has it.