Following the acquisitions of Philippe Coutinho and Yerry Mina in the January transfer window, Barcelona have continued to secure their future by tying down one of their key players. The Catalonian club has offered and agreed new terms with their rock-solid center back Gerard Pique.
Pique has penned down a four-and-a-half-year deal with Barcelona that will run till 2022 and which includes an impressive £440MILLION buyout clause. Even at the age of 30, the deal makes Pique the defender with the highest buyout clause ahead of his compatriot, Sergio Ramos, by a mile; who’s clause is £181mn at the moment.
An out and out supporter of Catalonia, Pique progressed through the famed La Masia academy of Barcelona before being bought by Manchester United in 2004 under Sir Alex Ferguson.
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Interestingly, Pique spent four years with Cristiano Ronaldo in the United first team following his return back to Barcelona in 2008, a year before Cristiano Ronaldo moved to La Liga giants Real Madrid for a then world record fee of £88mn.
Pique boasts a staggering 25 trophies in 421 games for the Catalan club that includes six La Liga titles, three UEFA Champions League titles, two UEFA Super Cups, five Copa del Reys, five Spanish Super Cups and three FIFA Club World Cups.
He was also part of the historic sextuple under Pep Guardiola and the treble under Luis Enrique. He was also part of the World Cup winning Spanish squad of 2010 and the European Cup of 2012.
Reports suggest that Pique’s deal is not the only one Barcelona are targeting this window. Contract renewals are also expected to come through for Sergi Roberto and Samuel Umtiti by next month as Barcelona look to maintain their impressive line of defense for a long time.
