Gerard Piqué, a Spanish professional football player in Barcelona and the Spanish national team, announced his retirement from football on November 5 after a long career during which he won a number of titles and awards.
Piqué was born on February 2, 1987, into a very wealthy Catalan Catholic family. His father was a successful business manager and lawyer. His mother was a director of the Spinal Injury Hospital in Barcelona while his maternal grandfather was a former Vice President of FC Barcelona.
Since the beginning of 2011, he had been in a relationship with Colombian singer Shakira, who is 10 years older than him.
Piqué got separated from Shakira in June 2022 after reports of his cheating on Shakira with a student working in his office who organizes events for his company.
Piqué studied at La Salle Bonanova, a prestigious school. After completing his secondary education, he started his career by studying business administration. He had to give it up because of football although he returned to his studies afterward and
received a master’s degree in business from Harvard University in 2017.
He joined FC Barcelona Academy in 1997, at the age of 10. He joined the Club's youngest boys team (Alevín B), and was among the main defenders of the team.
He played with the Academy for several years during which he passed through various levels and categories.
During his stay at the Academy, extending from 1997 until the end of the 2003-2004 season, Piqué developed into a skilled player and showed a great ability to adapt to different positions on the field, and was known for his ability to score goals despite his defensive position.
Piqué left Barcelona at the end of the 2003-2004 season, joined the English club Manchester United, and won the domestic league title and the European Champions League in 2008.
Piqué first appeared with Manchester United in October 2004 as a substitute for John O'Shea, and played a central defense in the Carling Cup match against Crewe Alexandra, which his team won.
In March 2006, he made his debut with the team in the English Premier League match against West Ham United at Old Trafford, where he played as a right-back, and was a substitute for an injured Gary Neville.
Manchester United loaned him to Real Zaragoza in the Spanish League for the 2006-2007 season, and then had the opportunity to play 22 matches alongside Argentine Gabriel Milito. However, he also spent a lot of his time on the bench.
Piqué returned to Manchester United in the football season 2007-2008 and spent a successful season in the Champions League. He scored the first of Manchester United's four goals in a 4-0 win at home against Dynamo Kyiv on the seventh of November 2007, and scored his second goal in an away match against Roma on December 12, 2007.
On May 27, 2008, Piqué returned to Barcelona, and signed a 4-year contract, with a full purchase condition of 5 million euros, and played with the Spanish national team in the period between 2009 and 2018. He won the World Cup in 2010 and the European Nations Cup in 2012. He retired from international football after the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
Piqué is a successful businessman. Together with Hiroshi Mikitani, owner of Rakuten Group, he founded Kosmos in 2017. Among the company's most important projects are managing the Davis Cup and Esports tournaments.
He also participated in various investments in different sectors such as agriculture and fashion. Piqué's companies acquired the shares of Andorra Club, which succeeded in ascending to the Spanish third division. His sports investments did not stop there, but also included a company to develop the Davis Cup tennis tournament.
