Gerard Piqué: Everything we know about his career and fortune

The legendary FC Barcelona and Spain defender Gerard Piqué retired from international football two years ago. He played his last match for the Catalan club on Saturday November 5, 2022 at the Camp Nou against UD Almería.

Gerard Piqué's career

The former central defender began his career in 2004, having trained at La Masia, Barcelona's youth academy, before embarking on his professional adventure with Manchester United, no less. After a loan spell with Real Zaragoza in 2006-2007, he returned to English soil in 2008, where he won the Premier League and Champions League that same year, alongside a certain Cristiano Ronaldo. A string of titles that enabled him to return to his beloved and birthplace club, FC Barcelona. He eventually left the Catalan club for good on November 3, 2022, when he announced his retirement.

It's a love affair that lasted for fourteen years, during which he has played alongside some of the biggest names in football: Xavi, Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta, Thierry Henry, Luis Suarez, Sergio Agüero... In 2009, he was one of the key players in the famous club sextuple. Barça won everything that year: La Liga, the Champions League, the King's Cup, the Spanish Supercup, the European Supercup and the Club World Cup.

But Gerard Piqué was not just Barcelona's legendary number 3. In fact, the former central defender also put his talent to good use with the Spanish national team, notably in 2010 and 2012, when he won back-to-back World Cups in South Africa and the Euros in Poland and Ukraine. In all, Sergio Ramos' team-mate (only with La Roja) had 105 caps to his name, scoring 5 goals.

Gerard Piqué's track record

Here is a detailed list of the former Barça central defender's achievements:

• Champions League: 2008 (Manchester United), 2009, 2011, 2015 (FC Barcelona)
• Premier League: 2008 (Manchester United)
• La Liga: 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019 (FC Barcelona)
• Spanish Cup: 2009, 2012, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2021 (FC Barcelona)
• European Supercup: 2009, 2015 (FC Barcelona)
• Club World Cup: 2009, 2011, 2015 (FC Barcelona)
• Euro: 2012 (Spain)
• World Cup: 2010 (Spain)

A total of 27 titles, one of the most impressive achievements in Spanish football.

Gerard Piqué: footballer and businessman

While some highly-paid football players don't know what to do with their money, that's not the case with Gerard Piqué. Indeed, back in 2012, the Catalan-born player launched his online gaming companyKerad Games. It was a first business that would inspire him, as it did on the pitch, to want more and more. Six years later, he founded Kosmos Holding, a sports and entertainment investment company. This opened the door to streaming and e-sports competitions.

In fact, if you didn't know, Gerard Piqué co-founded the KOI organization with Spanish streamer Ibai, which until then competed in the Spanish League of Legends (LVP). Founded in 2021, KOI merged with another e-sport organization, Rogue, in 2022 to join the LEC, the closed European League of Legends.

He's involved not only in computers, but also in television. That's right, because through Kosmos, he was able to buy the rights to Ligue 1 in Spain in 2021, the year in which a certain Lionel Messi left his lifelong club FC Barcelona for PSG in Paris.

Gerard Piqué's fortune

After an 18-year career and at the age of 35, Gerard Piqué was finally ready to hang up his training shoes. He had already said goodbye to the Spanish national team in 2018, and now it's Barcelona to whom he's about to say goodbye.

And there's no doubt that the central defender is enjoying a golden retirement. Indeed, according to several Spanish media, including Sport, he is said to be sitting on a fortune of £70 million. Amassed through his salaries and his various investments and companies, the former player will no doubt continue to add to this substantial funding. He also owns a luxurious mansion in central Barcelona, valued at £4 million. This is roughly equivalent to the player's annual salary at the club since 2020.

However, this golden retirement may be tarnished by his current ongoings with justice. Indeed, the former player is being investigated over a corruption scandal, as it is believed his company Kosmos was used as an intermediary between the Royal Spanish Football Federation and Saudi Arabia after the agreement on the Spanish Super Cup in 2019. A role that enabled Piqué's company to pocket four million euros a year.

This article has been translated from Gentside FR.

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Source used:

Sport: La fortuna de Shakira y Piqué: ¿Quién se queda qué?