Former Barcelona midfielder Riqui Puig has appeared to hit out at the club and coach Xavi Hernandez over their “treatment” of Gerard Pique, who has announced his imminent retirement.
Pique’s retirement announcement followed claims that the defender had a falling out with Barca boss Xavi over a lack of playing time before the player's contract at the club was leaked by Spanish media outlet El Mundo. The 35-year-old had 18 months remaining on his contract, which had been due to end in June 2024.
Central midfielder Puig left the Blaugrana as he completed his transfer to MLS club LA Galaxy this summer having made 57 first-team appearances for Barca after joining the club in 2013, aged 14, with the Catalan giants retaining a repurchase option for the player, which also entitles them to 50 per cent of any future sale.
Puig acknowledged the defender’s imminent retirement as he posted an old photo of himself in Barca first-team training alongside Pique, which also had a lengthy post. Puig has a 3.2 million following on Instagram.
The midfielder wrote: "Thank you very much for these years. You are an example for all the Catalans who have enjoyed all the titles you have won since childhood. How you have made us enjoy these years!"
However, Puig’s post continued with criticism of how Pique was treated – although it was not clear precisely who he was referencing in the message: "Those of us who love and admire you are sad, not only because you are leaving the first team... but also because of the treatment you have received lately. Good luck and see you soon."
Earlier this year, Puig criticised Barca and Xavi for how they treated players who were not in contention for first-team selection: "The truth is that it has been a pretty hard few months because I had never seen the club leave players in Barcelona and not let them go on tour with them.
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"Maybe I am misunderstanding the situation of the club and that they are wanting to pressure the players to leave, but it should have been done in another way.
'The truth is that it was painful to be in Barcelona training alone with four teammates who were also with me."
Veteran defender Pique has clocked up 615 first-team appearances for the Catalan club but has only started just five matches this season, which came due to injuries to other central defenders. The arrivals of Jules Kounde and Andreas Christensen this summer had pushed him down the pecking order, alongside the presence of Eric Garcia and Ronald Araujo.
