Atletico Madrid Plotting January Move for Out of Favour Barcelona Captain Gerard Pique

• Atletico Madrid are pushing to sign Gerard Pique from Barcelona and are considering tabling a bid for the defender in January
• Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone wants an experienced central defender and believes Pique will be the right choice for his team
• Pique has fallen down the pecking order at the Camp Nou, with the Spanish defender now ranked as the 5th choice centre-back at Barcelona

Atletico Madrid are hoping to lure veteran defender, Gerard Pique to the Civitas Metropolitano and are prepared to make a bid for the Barcelona defender as early as January.

Pique has been sidelined for much of this season by Barcelona manager, Xavi after being relegated to the club’s 5th choice centre-back after the La Liga giant’s busy summer spending.

According to Barca Universal, Atletico Madrid are looking to sign an experienced centre-back in the winter transfer window and has now identified Pique as the perfect target.

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Diego Simeone is presently unhappy with the performances of his current central defenders and wants the experience of Pique to help stabilize the defense.

Pique has played just two games for Barcelona so far this season, amounting to only 135 minutes of action on the pitch.

Gerard Pique and Xavi's relationship totally broken

Meanwhile, Xavi and Gerard Pique are said to share a tense relationship at Barcelona following the continuous exile of the veteran defender from the first team, Daily Mirror reports.

The 35-year-old Spanish defender and Barca manager Xavi have a falling out over the player's lack of playing time and a leak of his contract with the organization.

Pique is ranked behind Jules Kounde, Andreas Christensen, Ronald Araujo and Eric Garcia at Barcelona, as the veteran defender has only played just two games for the Catalan giants this season.

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Leaked documents reveal Gerard Pique Barcelona contract

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.