Gerard Pique has shocked a lot of football fans by sharing details of his bank statement which shed light on how much top-tier footballers earn in today’s market. The former Spain and Barcelona central defender has published his payslip on social media as he responded to claims surrounding his earnings at the Nou Camp.
The 37-year-old made 419 appearances in La Liga during his playing career, scoring 32 goals and picking up eight assists in multiple competitions. He has won the FIFA World Cup once and the UEFA Champions League four times among winning other honours in his playing career.
The former Spain international recently went on Twitter and revealed his back statement which displayed half his annual pay – £2m.
The payslip showed that Pique made £4m (around £75,000 per week) for the year 2021.
Spanish reporter Lluis Canut, who worked at the Spanish TV station TV3, mentioned that Pique was in fact making £11.7m for just one season. However, the former Spanish defender denied those claims and wrote on Twitter,
“Characters like this charging public television to defend their friends.
“Here is 50 per cent of my payroll collected on December 30th. Have some respect for yourself.”
It’s worth noting that Canut made a similar claim about both of Pique’s former Barcelona teammates, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba. Both of them are currently playing alongside Lionel Messi at Inter Miami in Major League Soccer.
Pique opted to hang up his playing boots back in November 2022. He went on to become the president and owner of the Kings League, an indoor football league held in Barcelona.
Barcelona have also responded to Canut’s claims by releasing their own statement.
The Catalan club wrote,
“In relation to the manifestations of Mr Lluis Canut carried out yesterday in the programme ‘Onze’ of TV3, FC Barcelona wants to clarify the following:
“1. The information on the salaries of certain first team has not, in any case, been provided by the Club and its origin is unknown.
“2. In any case, the amounts referred to in the information are erroneous, do not conform to reality and, furthermore, in the case of the three players referred to, it gives fixed amounts that, being variable, will possibly never be reached, to merit.
“3. It is false that the aforementioned players have only deferred 100 per cent of their salary. Messrs. Pique, Busquets and Alba gave up part of their salary when they signed the last contract renewal last summer.”
