The perfect storm that ends Piqué's career

• Legal storm Investigation for the collection of commissions in the transfer of the Super Cup to Saudi Arabia

• Opinion Substitute of substitutes, football gets in the way

"This Saturday will be my last game at the Camp Nou."

Not even

was immune to the football guillotine.

And of life.

At

, tired of being questioned, tired of ending up relegated to indifference, whistled at in a house that saw him as

-his aspiration is still there-, and aware that his family life now requires greater attention He announced that he was leaving football.

He did it his way.

By surprise and through a video on networks, I love how it always was from his message.

And also of that silence that had accompanied him in recent months, coinciding with the media harassment after the separation from

.

Of course, he announced a future reunion: «Football has given me everything, Barça has given me everything.

You, culés, have given me everything.

And now that the dreams of the boy I was have been fulfilled, it is time to close this cycle.

But you already know me:

».

Piqué was always a proud guy.

Of those who extol their qualities before anyone.

And with the flag of the high zone and the handsome, intelligent and privileged boy ahead.

Perhaps without that haughty and mocking bearing, which he tried to correct in his day his good friend

, he would never have become one of the best central defenders of recent decades.

For something he was a capital piece both in the best Barça ever, that of a

who knew how to put him on the path, and in the world champion Spain.

Although Piqué, who had it all, who always aspired to be much more than just a wealthy guy who kicked a ball, he could not escape the twilight.

Physical and emotional.

A perfect storm that has ended up precipitating a march to which he himself refused last summer, when

confessed that the best thing for him would be to step aside.

Piqué, of course, told his former teammate and now his foreman that he would end up being a starter again.

This time, his confidence and pride were not enough.

Pique celebrates a goal against Bayern in a Champions League match at the Camp Nou. PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOUAFP

Xavi, yes, Piqué demanded that he dedicate himself once and for all body and soul to football.

But the defender, investigated for promoting the landing of the

in exchange for a generous commission, could not go against his own nature.

And the grass, this time, did not serve as an alibi.

His serious mistakes in the last European collapse against Inter at the Camp Nou ended up convincing him that the martyrdom had to end.

Without even waiting for the end of the season, which was the border that he himself had set.

In fact,

Piqué, suddenly, looked like a stranger in that locker room that until not so long ago dominated like no one else.

His

before the Argentine finished in Paris was notorious.

As always, Piqué had tried to go his own way with the negotiations for salary cuts.

Apart from emotional leadership despite being one of the captains, he tried to show a normality that was not such when he had to train with

late at night, in those sessions in which only secondary actors participate.

As much as he tried to adapt to the role of the simple reliever, he seemed strange.

Gerard Piqué celebrates a goal against Valencia at the Camp Nou.PAU BARRENAAFP

In addition, Piqué was aware that the Camp Nou offices had been looking for a way for him to resign for some time.

He

, who had no problem pointing out the captains at the last assembly of delegates for not agreeing to a new salary reduction.

So did

Nobody will have to make more calls to create a climate of opinion against Piqué.

The night of 2-8 in Lisbon, one of the saddest in Barcelona, ​​he himself said that he would close the blind when he saw that he could no longer contribute anything.

These last two years of extension were unbearable.

Even for someone like him, who always saw football as a simple game.

Never as a way of life.

Conforms to The Trust Project criteria

Know more

• Joan Laporta

• Leo Messi

• Luis Rubiales