Gerard Pique – A Star That United Shouldn’t Have Lost

May the 28th is already in most people’s diaries for a special sporting occasion, it’s of course the day of the Champions League final between Barcelona and Manchester United. Nobody quite knows yet what will be in store when the final comes around in a couple of week’s time, but fans will be hoping for a highly contested fixture between the Champions of La Liga and the nearly crowned Champions of the English Premier League. For one player in particular the Champions League final will just be that little bit extra special, 24 year old central defender Gerard Pique will be turning out for Barcelona against his former side Manchester United.

Pique joined the Red Devils in the year 2004 after deciding against a professional contract with Barcelona, after switching alliances fans knew very little of a then 17 year old teenager in the name of Gerard Pique, what was to come from the youngster slowly sailed into the mist after a four year stay with the Red Devils; however letting Gerard Pique leave Old Trafford has been one of the biggest mistakes Sir Alex Ferguson has ever made in his illustrious career as the manager of Manchester United. Like Pique over the year’s manager Sir Alex Ferguson has seen many promising talents depart Old Trafford to achieve greater successes elsewhere. Striker Dion Dublin departed from Manchester United in the year 1994, a promising striker who went onto achieve England Caps and the Premier League golden boot in season 1997-1998. More recently another vibrant youngster in Giuseppe Rossi only featured five times for Manchester United between the year 2005 and the year 2007, after struggling to feature for Alex Ferguson’s superb United side, he is now plying his trade for Spanish side Villarreal, where he has caught the attention of Premier League sides such as Tottenham Hotspur in particular. Gerard Pique along with Dion Dublin and Giuseppe Rossi all feature in a small group of players, who Manchester United shouldn’t of really lost.

Gerard Pique featured only 23 times for Manchester United, he made his first team start at the tender age of seventeen in the surprising 0-0 FA Cup draw against Exeter City in the year 2005. Season 2007-2008 Pique made a total of twelve appearances, nine of which came in the Premier League. His first goal for the Red Devils came against Dynamo Kiev in a 4-0 Champions League win at Old Trafford. That season Gerard Pique surprisingly left Old Trafford after claiming a Premier League and a Champions League winners medal, even though Pique had a number of successes on his footballing cv his frustrating time as a bit part player eventually deteriorated.

He decided to re join the club where he began his youth career, FC Barcelona. At that period of time Sir Alex Ferguson wouldn’t have even thought about Gerard Pique, and what he may achieve at Barcelona in the next couple of years. For a player who only featured a total of 23 times for one of the most prolific sides in Europe, Pique has recently gone on to achieve international caps plus La Liga and another Champions League winners medal with Barcelona. Nobody at Manchester United including their fans alone wouldn’t of guessed what the future held for a player of Gerard Pique’s stature, for many United fans a defensive partnership of Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic was starting to blossom, as the pair were producing outstanding performances for the Red Devils week in week out, Pique was just a player who failed to cement a place in the Sir Alex Ferguson’s set up as he slowly slipped away.

As mentioned above Pique has received three La Liga winners’ medals, plus his second Champions League winner’s medal while playing for Barcelona. Pique along with three other players have been able to win the Champions League back to back with different clubs, the other three being Marcel Desailly, Paulo Sousa and Samuel Eto’o that achievement just speaks for itself. With the Champions League final fast approaching only yesterday in an article Rio Ferdinand stated that he has been surprised with the achievements Gerard Pique has managed to accomplish after leaving Manchester United in the year 2008, the England centre back said “Gerard has been phenomenal, from sitting on the bench at United to winning the Champions League, La Liga and World Cup. If you had told him that was going to happen he wouldn’t of believed you”. The 24 year old has certainly surprised many football fans over the past couple of years and as Rio Ferdinand mentioned, Pique has also claimed a World Cup winner’s medal after winning the prestigious prize last summer.

Pique has played a pivotal role alongside Carlos Puyol for Barcelona and for Spain in the last couple of seasons, aswell as playing behind two of the most gifted players in this modern era in Xavi and Andres Iniesta. Pique has relished the challenge of playing for a fantastic Barcelona side, in which he has matured into one of the most gifted defenders in World football, strong, athletic and capable of finding the net the Spanish international has all the attributes to become a legend in Spanish football.

From the Manchester United bench to the Barcelona starting eleven, Gerard Pique’s career has flourished into a superb fairytale. Also a member of the Spain World Cup winning side of 2010, Sir Alex Ferguson probably often regrets the day he let a star in Gerard Pique leave Old Trafford, on the other hand Barcelona has revitalized the 24 year old’s career. Pique in the past has praised the current Barcelona boss Pep Guardiola, as he has often thanked his coach for changing his footballing career for the better. From a United perspective Pique was a talent that slipped away, but for Barcelona Gerard has been an amazing thorn in the heart of the defence. Pique has been on a rollercoaster ride since he joined Manchester United in the year 2004, but the next task in Pique’s career is trying to secure yet another Champions league winners medal with FC Barcelona, what will the future bring for this talented footballer?