Barcelona player, Gerard Pique has come out to say that his 4-year spell as a youngster at Manchester United moulded him into the player he is today.
Pique signed for Man Utd from Barcelona’s academy as a 17-year-old in 2004 but only played 13 times for the first team before re-joining Barca four years later.
Despite the lack of games, Pique played alongside the likes of Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo, as well as being managed by Sir Alex Ferguson.
Speaking on it recently, he felt being exposed to these personalities at such a young age helped his development as a footballer.
His words, “When I left my friends there to spend four years at Manchester United it was tough,”
“At the same time that was a great experience for me.
“I grew up a lot there. I am who I am because of the period I had at Manchester United, even though I didn’t play as much as I wanted to.
“But in my position there were two centre-backs who were among the top three in the world at the time [Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic]. But being at home, and having the career I have had at home, has been a great pleasure and I am very proud of it.”
On retiring, “Right now my thoughts are that every year has to be my last year,” he added. “I want to dedicate as much as I can to football.
“I want to end my career in the best way possible. I don’t know if it will be one more year, two more years, five more years. But I am happy at Barcelona.”
