Rio Ferdinand pays tribute to Gerard Pique amid Barcelona defender’s retirement

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Former Manchester United defender Gerard Pique has announced his retirement from playing.

Pique signed for Manchester United as a youngster, leaving Barcelona in 2004 and rising through the youth ranks to make his first team debut in the same year.

However, the path to first team football at United was difficult, with Rio Ferdinand and Wes Brown in front of him, with Nemanja Vidic soon added to the side.

Pique went out on loan to Real Zaragoza in 2006 and only made 23 first team appearances for the Red Devils, scoring two goals, against Dynamo Kiev and Roma on the way to United winning the Champions League in 2007/08.

This ended up being his final season at the club, with United cashing in for just £5 million, allowing him to rejoin Barcelona.

Pique told BBC Sport at the time: “With Manchester we won the Champions League and that was an unforgettable experience, and an experience I hope I can repeat in a Barca shirt.”

12 months later he was winning the Champions League again, at Manchester United’s expense, starring in Barcelona’s 2-0 final win over the Red Devils in 2009.

This was just the start for Pique, who repeated the feat against United in 2011, the second of three Champions League titles he won for the club.

By this time Pique was already a World Cup winner with Spain, and went onto win the European Championship in 2012.

He won eight La Liga titles with Barcelona and seven Copa del Rey trophies, and ends his career with 616 first team appearances for the club, plus 102 caps for Spain.

Rio Ferdinand pays tribute to Gerard Pique

Former Manchester United defender and teammate Rio Ferdinand has paid tribute to Pique, and credits himself with helping to turn him into a star.

Penning a heartfelt message on Instagram, Ferdinand joked that Pique ‘never stood a chance’ of breaking through at United with Nemanja Vidic and himself in front of him.

He probably wasn’t wrong – but United should have managed the situation better than selling him for just a paltry £5 million.

Ferdinand’s respect for Pique comes amid Talksport pundits bizarrely questioning whether he deserves the credit for his fantastic career.

As a player who performed with him and against him, Ferdinand is well placed to judge, and his respect speaks volumes.