Barcelona Set to Terminate Gerard Pique’s Contract if Veteran Defender Plays Less Than 35% of Club’s Matches

• Gerard Pique’s contract with Barcelona can be terminated if he plays less than 35% of the Catalan club’s games this season
• Pique is contracted to Barcelona until 2024 but the Spanish defender’s clause in his deal means he could go early if he plays less this season
• The 35-year-old has played only twice for Barcelona so far in the 2022-23 campaign as Xavi prefers him as his 5th choice central defender

Gerard Pique could leave Barcelona a year early if he continues to play fewer games for the Blaugrana this season, a clause in the defender’s contract has revealed.

Pique has a contract with the Catalan giants that runs until the summer of 2024, but Barcelona are allowed to terminate the defender’s deal a year early.

According to SB Nation, Pique’s contract can be terminated if he plays less than 35% of Barcelona’s games this season.

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The 35-year-old defender has played only twice so far in 2022-23, as he came on as a half-time substitute against Viktoria Plzen in the Champions League and played the full 90 minutes against Cadiz.

Pique has struggled to see game time this campaign under Xavi as the Barcelona manager rates him as the 5th choice central defender at Camp Nou behind the likes of Ronald Araujo, Jules Kounde and Andreas Christensen.

Shakira halted music career to support Pique

Meanwhile, pop star, Shakira has revealed she had to put a hold on her music career in order to support her ex-partner and Barcelona defender Gerard Pique, The Sun reports.

Pique and Shakira split in June following a 12-year relationship after the defender was accused of cheating with PR girl, Clara Chia Marti who met him while working on events at his sports investment firm, Kosmos.

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Shakira is fighting to have full custody of their two children, Milan and Sasha, and she has moved to the United States since their split.

Gerard Pique was the highest paid defender in the world

Earlier, Sports Brief reported Gerard Pique is in the spotlight again as a recently leaked document has confirmed the 35-year-old was once the world’s highest-paid defender in the world in his previous contract with Barcelona.

The deal which was signed under outed Barcelona president, Josep Maria Bartomeu saw the defender earn as high as €142m in gross salary in a 5-year contract.

Pique's request to the then Barcelona board was explicitly to be the highest-paid central defender in the world, ahead of rival and Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos.