Gerard Piqué announces withdrawal after his separation from Shakira and the Clara Chía scandal

The Blaugrana defender left all his followers speechless this Thursday by announcing on his social networks that he is hanging up his boots after 25 years active on the pitch. At 35 years old, and after several very complicated months on a personal level due to his separation from Shakirathe fight for the custody of their children and their new relationship with the young Clara Chia, Gerard Piqué has decided to “close the circle”: “This Saturday will be my last game at the Camp Nou”.

Through an emotional video where he reviews the story of his life linked to Barça, Piqué explains: “Culés, I’m Gerard. These weeks, months, many people have talked about me and so far I haven’t said anything. Now I am going to be the one to tell you about myself. As many of you know, I’ve always been a Barça fan, I was born into a very footballing family and very culé. From a very young age, I didn’t want to be a footballer, I wanted to be a Barça player. Lately I’ve thought a lot about that boy and what little Gerard would have said if he had been told that he would fulfill all his dreams. Football has given me everything, Barça has given me everything. You, Catalans, have given me everything”, he says.

Culers, I have to tell you something. pic.twitter.com/k3V919pm1T

— Gerard Piqué (@3gerardpique) November 3, 2022

“And now that the dreams of that child have been fulfilled, it is time to close the circle. I always said that after Barça there would be no other team and that’s how it will be. This Saturday will be my last game at the Camp Nou”, announces. “I will be one more culé. I will cheer on the team from the stands and I will continue transmitting my love for Barça to my children. But you already know me, sooner or later I will come back”.

a complicated year

The announcement comes at a particularly delicate moment for Piqué. wrapped in a very delicate personal maelstrom after his separation from Shakira and his new relationship with Clara Chíahis performance has been affected on the football field and he has been below expectations for weeks. Once unthinkable mistakes that have provoked the fury of the followerswho were crying out to send him to the bench, and the joke of the opponents, who have come to play songs by the Colombian artist during training outside the Camp Nou to destabilize him.

Piqué has reached the limit. She hangs up her boots to get away from the media pressure and focus on more important things: his children, Milan and Sasha. He maintains an arduous fight with Shakira for the custody of them and everything indicates that they will face each other in court, since they have exhausted all possible friendly agreements. Precisely for this reason, specialized press and followers placed Piqué on the other side of the Atlantic in the next season. They claimed that he could sign for an American team to facilitate the transfer of Shakira and the children to Miami. He himself has denied this option this Thursday: “There will be no team after Barça.”

Clara Chía, her greatest support

In these difficult times, Piqué takes refuge in his family, whom he adores, and his girl, Clara Chía, with whom he has been dating for more than a year. Both have shown that their relationship is strong and have faced all obstacles. They live together in the center of Barcelonain the apartment that the culé bought before meeting Shakira, although it was published that he had acquired a chalet very close to the family home where his children lived and that he planned to move in a few months to be closer to them.