Barcelona defender Gerard Piqué has issued a rallying call to his team ahead of the new season.
Barcelona is in financial ruin at the moment. First the club has to offload Lionel Messi, and even then the situation wasn’t any better. They couldn’t register their new signings in Memphis Depay and Eric Garcia, and were staring at a bleak season.
However, Piqué has set an example for the rest of the squad, and has taken a massive pay-cut to help his boyhood club. This helped them register their new signings, and begin the La Liga season, and the first in a post-Messi era.
Speaking about the decision, Piqué said, “I was born and raised here. I have done what I had to do, with the reduction we have been in contact with the captains and I know that they will also take the step, it is a matter of timing.
“I did it quickly for the registrations. We are a family. We will fight together,” he concluded.
Piqué also assured that he was the first to do so, and said that the other captains of the club would follow suit. This includes Jordi Alba, Sergio Busquets and Sergi Roberto. These players would aid the club by taking pay-cuts, until the club is in a better financial position.
Instant rewards
What followed was good karma for Piqué, as he scored the first goal of the new season for Barcelona, which was assisted by new signing Depay. In their first La Liga match against Real Sociedad, the Copa del Rey winners won 4-2.
The goal from Piqué, his 50th in all competitions, along with a brace from Martin Braithwaite and a late strike from Sergi Roberto meant Barcelona took three points on the opening day.
It is a new era in the club’s history. Life without Messi will be hard, but Barcelona will look to climb to the top of the footballing summit once again.
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