Gerard Pique opens up on making a return to Barcelona

Barcelona legend Gerard Pique has opened up on making a comeback to Barcelona. He retired from professional football in November 2022. His last professional game was a 2-0 win over Almeria in La Liga at home. Pique rose from the youth ranks of Barcelona’s academy, La Masia. After his first stint with Barcelona, he joined Manchester United in 2004 and stayed with the club till 2008 before rejoining his old team yet again. He remained at Barca from 2008 to 2022 before retiring from the sport.

The Spanish legend won the UEFA Champions League thrice, La Liga a staggering eight times, and Copa del Rey seven times among many other tournaments during this period. Overall, Pique scored 53 goals for the club across competitions in a massive 616 appearances while assisting in 13 goals.

Coming back to his thoughts on possible return, Gerard Pique shed light on making a comeback to the club in another role, in an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere dello Sport. 

“Later, perhaps, I will return to football doing something different. I’m not interested in being a coach, 20 years of routine has saturated me."

“I needed to change. Many years between Manchester United and Barcelona, playing every three days, ends up making you saturated. I have beautiful memories, I was lucky and I won a lot and I fulfilled my dream as a child, to play at the Camp Nou,” he said (via Football Espana).

Gerard Pique recalls golden times under coach Pep Guardiola

During his interaction, Gerard Pique also recalled the golden times of Barcelona when Pep Guardiola was the head coach. Players like Pique, Lionel Messi, Xavi, Iniesta, etc. along with Guardiola made it a deadly combination for the opposition in La Liga.

Pep Guardiola’s stint with Barca was certainly a golden era. The club won 179 out of 247 matches with him at the helm. He also won two UEFA Champions League trophies, three La Liga titles, two Copa del Reys among many other competitions apart from securing a continental treble in the 2008-09 season as the head coach of Barcelona.