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Barcelona boss Xavi has hailed fellow legend Gerard Pique’s decision to retire as a ‘gesture of spectacular greatness’.
Pique called time on his glittering career on Thursday, saying he will stop playing football when LaLiga breaks for the World Cup this month.
The World Cup winner has a contract with Barcelona until 2024 but he will renounce the remaining year and a half of his salary, La Vanguardia newspaper reported.
The decision will help Barcelona improve their financial fair play margin since Pique is among their best-paid players.
Reacting to the decision of his former teammate, Xavi, now Barcelona’s manager, said: ‘Pique is a player who still has a contract and who could have continued at the club, so his gesture shows spectacular greatness.
‘We had a private conversation at the beginning of the summer. I had to explain my intentions to him and it was one of the most difficult moments I’ve had to do as a coach.
‘We heard about Pique’s decision this week. Surely I have had an important weight in making this decision, but the truth is that I have to make decisions and in many situations, someone else played over Pique.
‘Pique is brave, a winner, a great teammate, and a very intelligent person. He has been a great captain for Barca.
‘Gerard can be president of Barça and he can be whatever he wants because he has plenty of capacity and leadership, no doubt.
‘For me, it is not a relief that he is leaving now. It is a personal decision for him, due to the circumstances and due to the conversation, we had in the summer.
‘I’ve tried to be honest with Piqué… The footballer always feels when you don’t play him, the coach is to be blamed.
‘That’s why I say that sometimes the job of a coach is unpleasant because you have to make difficult decisions. The conversation we had is private.’
This article was updated 7 months ago
