If he has minutes today against Osasuna, Gerard Piqué will play his 600th game with the Barça shirt. Despite having debuted in professional football with Manchester United (23 games) and playing a year on loan at Zaragoza (28), He is already installed in the historical Top-5 of players with the most appearances in the history of Barça, only behind Sergio Busquets (659), who continues adding appearances, Iniesta (674), Xavi (767) and Leo Messi (778).
Piqué, champion of everything with Barça and with the National Team, with whom he played more than a hundred games until he decided to retire of his own free will after the World Cup in Russia, has recently recovered from the serious injury to his right knee that He suffered last season at the Wanda, and from which he fell in the second leg of the Cup semifinal against Sevilla. That has allowed him to play regularly this season and, despite not being the exuberant central defender who played abundantly for years, he continues to be indisputable in Barça’s eleven at 35 years of age.
With a contract until 2024, Piqué shows no signs of exhaustion. However, there is a certain buzz around the figure of him. The almost closed signing of Christensen has been linked to a possible retirement of the centre-back at the end of the season, two years before his commitment to the club ends. With 33 games played this season, it does not seem that the moment has arrived that Piqué considers critical for making the decision to leave (“I will not accept leaving as a substitute”). Committed to Xavi, he still has a relevant role in the team and is the undisputed starter. But Piqué has always surprised by his ability to improvise and to be ahead of the times in many facets of his life. Therefore, Barça cannot rule out any scenario, not even that of his retirement at the end of the season. Surely, everything will be resolved after a conversation with Xavi when May arrives.
The story of Piqué’s 600 games at Barça, beyond the fiascos of recent years, is that of, surely, the best center-back in the club’s history. Spectacular in Guardiola’s time, he already led without Puyol the second treble in history with Luis Enrique and, despite certain valleys in his career, he has been a guarantee and a regular footballer whose greatness will only be measured when he leaves.