Gerard Pique has admitted that he would have retired sooner than he did had Barcelona not been suffering an injury crisis at centre-back.
Pique announced his imminent retirement on 3 November and then played his final game for Barça just two days later, his 616th appearance for the club and the 769th senior game of his career in total.
The defender, who turns 36 in February, had only been a bit-part player this season but was still called upon when the likes of Jules Kounde, Ronald Araujo and Andreas Christensen were sidelined with injury at various times.
Speaking to Twitch streamer Ibai Llanos, Pique explained that he always planned to walk away when he was no longer a key player at the highest level and was already considering hanging up his boots. But that decision was ultimately delayed because the club still needed him to plug the gaps.
“Why retire in November? There are many reasons. People already know that I started the season with a conversation with Xavi, who told me that it was going to be difficult for him to play,” Pique said.
“The feelings from the beginning were not the best in general and I saw that the break was an opportunity to have that decision. I have always I said that when I was not important I would leave. If there had been no injuries in my position, I would have left before”.
“I no longer felt as I felt before. There was a day training at Camp Nou after a game in which I was about to say ‘I’m leaving now’. I saw that it was no longer my place. When [other players] started to get injured, I said ‘I can’t leave the team’. That’s why I set the break of the World Cup.”
