Gerard Pique has announced he will retire during the World Cup break and play in his final match on Saturday.
Pique was ever-present in his first 14 seasons with the first team but has fallen down the pecking order this year following the signing of center-backs Andreas Christensen and Jules Kounde.
“For weeks there has been talk about me,” Pique said in a video posted across social media. “I have not said anything but I want to speak now.
“Like many of you, coming from a football family, I have always been a Barcelona fan. I did not want to be a footballer, I wanted to play for Barca.
“Recently, I have thought a lot about when I was younger, about what that Gerard would have thought if I told him he would fulfil all his dreams, that he would play for Barca and be a European and world champion.
“That he would play with the best players, that he would captain the club. … Football has given me everything, Barca have given me everything, you the fans have given me everything. And now my childhood dreams have been fulfilled, the moment has arrived to close this chapter.
“I have always said that after Barcelona there will be no other team and that is how it will be. Saturday will be my last game at Camp Nou.
“I will become another fan after, I will support the team and transmit my love for the club to my kids, like they did with me. And you know me, sooner or later I will be back. See you at Camp Nou. Visca Barca, always and forever.”
