Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand has written an emotional letter to his former teammate Gerard Piqué.
Piqué announced a few days ago that he was retiring from professional football and had reached an agreement with Barcelona to terminate his contract.
The legendary Spanish defender took his final bow yesterday as he played for the Blaugrana for the last time in a win over Almeria.
Piqué hangs up his boots after a trophy-laden career with Barcelona. The centre-back won 30 major trophies throughout his many years as a footballer.
Piqué signed for United in 2004 and was part of the team that won the Premier League and the Champions League in 2007/08 with Sir Alex Ferguson.
He made his United debut against Crewe Alexandra in the League Cup and made a total of 23 appearances for the Red Devils before making a sensational return to Spain with Barcelona.
Since he made the announcement, tributes and messages of congratulations have poured in for one of the greatest advocates of his generation.
Ferdinand through his social networks wrote to Piqué: “Man, what a race!” Ferdinand jokingly added, “Many people don’t know this, but I actually played one of the biggest roles in creating you.”
“The fact that Nemanja and I were playing at Man Utd you never got the chance… so you had to move to Barcelona. That was my part to catapult you to greatness!”
The Englishman praised the great Barça player for his illustrious spell with the Catalan giants and attributed his maturity and the development he developed at Old Trafford as the ingredients that helped him reach the top.
Ferdinand in his message named Pique as one of the greatest in the history of the sport, saying it is unfortunate that he is never mentioned at the same time as some of the other greats.
Ferdinand completed his statement by saying: “Respect my man for a really great career! PD – President of Barça watching 7 years.”
Rio Ferdinand’s message to Gerard Piqué after his retirement pic.twitter.com/MjQQqiE7X2
— utdreport (@utdreport) November 6, 2022
Certainly a worthy tribute from one gaming legend to another.
