Gerard Pique’s selfless deeds for crisis-ridden Barcelona enhance his legendary status at the club
Amidst all the chaos and confusion at Barcelona at the moment, Gerard Pique has been a rare breath of fresh air for every fan of the club. Having lost Lionel Mess to Paris Saint-Germain and dealing with debts totaling over €1 billion, the Blaugrana are currently facing a crisis.
However, they are very lucky to have a figure like Pique, who loves the club so much and would give everything to see Barcelona rise to the pinnacle of European football again.
The 34-year-old has earned the nickname ‘President Pique’, which is linked to his dreams of leading the club one day. While he still has a lot of football left in him, the centre-back has constantly walked the talk both on and off the pitch.
Pique takes pay-cut to allow Barcelona to register new signings
On Saturday, Barcelona announced that Pique had agreed to have his salary “substantially” reduced. This was in a bid to allow for the club’s new signings to be registered for the La Liga season.
Through Pique’s selfless act, Memphis Depay, Eric Garcia and Rey Manaj were duly registered. As if this was not enough, he went ahead to score Barcelona’s opening goal en route to a 4-2 win over Real Sociedad on the opening day of the season.
As fate would have it, Depay – one of the players who was registered only due to the defender’s decision to take a pay-cut – was the one who assisted Pique’s goal.
Pique’s selfless deeds enhance his legendary status at Barcelona
Very few players in the game have been as selfless as Pique has been for Barcelona. He has consistently demonstrated that he loves the club and his recent action will only enhance his legendary status.
The former Manchester United defender is also in talks with the club’s other captains – Sergio Busquets, Sergi Roberto and Jordi Alba – to also take pay cuts to mitigate the crisis Barcelona currently find themselves in.
"I want to stress that we've been in contact with the other captains over the pay cut and I know they'll take the same step shortly, it's just a question of timing,” Pique said, as quoted by Goal.
"I had to be the first to do it quickly because of the registration issue. But this is a family, we're all together, the captains have all had the intention from the first moment to adjust to what the club needed and that's the decision we've taken and we're proud of it."
Pique’s deeds for the club in such dire times are bound to be remembered for many years to come. He is a true legend on and off the pitch and not many at Barcelona, past or present, command such a status at the club.