English premier League - Player Profile: Gerard Pique
Gerard Pique started his career at Barcelona’s youth academy in Cataluña. He currently plays his football at Barcelona as a central defender, however in his teens he used to play in midfield for the Barcelona youth team. Before Gerard signed his first professional contract with his hometown club of Barcelona, Manchester United approached the defender who quickly agreed to join the English giants.
United technically did not pay a transfer fee for the young Spaniard because he was too young to be acquired on a professional footballing contract. With Manchester United, his debut came in a three nil League Cup win against Crewe Alexandra in October 2004; he replaced John O’Shea at the center back position. Pique’s full debut for Manchester United, came on 29th March 2006 against West Ham United in a Premier League encounter at Old Trafford. He played at the right back spot due to Gary Neville’s absence in the starting lineup.
Despite not making regular appearances in the club’s first team side, Gerard did impress in the reserve team at United. His consistent displays for the reserve team at Manchester United earned him a contract with the club which was signed in February of 2005; the contract assured his stay in the English Premier League till the summer of 2009. In the summer of 2006, Real Zaragoza from the Spanish football league’s top tier secured Pique on a loan spell from Manchester United.
In the loan deal that was agreed between both the football clubs, it was decided that the Spanish defender would at least twenty football games for Real Zaragoza. This clause was fulfilled as Gerard made around twenty two appearances in a highly successful loan spell alongside his future team mate Gabriel Milito.
On 5th of May 2007, United announced that Gerard would be staying at Old Trafford and playing for them in the 2007-2008 season. His first proper season with Manchester United’s first team saw Pique making just nine appearances. However his performances did remain impeccable, as the ex-Barcelona youth team player even scored for United in a Champions League match against Dynamo Kyiv on 7th of November 2007.
Due to the lack of first team appearances in the English Premier League, Pique parted ways with United in the summer of 2008 and he was resigned by Barcelona on a four year contract. His move to the Spanish club got finalized on 27th of May 2008. Gerard made his first appearance for his hometown club on 26th of November, in a UEFA Champions League match against Sporting CP. His first goal for Barca came in their Copa Del Rey match against Espanyol on 29th of January 2009.
At the end of his first season back in Barcelona, he played his ex-team mates at Manchester United in the UEFA Champions League final match in Rome. A match that Barcelona eventually won by two goals to nil. Pique’s return to Barcelona has brought him a lot of success as they have become successive Spanish league champions’ after winning the La Liga in 2008-2009 and 2009-2010.
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