Atletico Madrid have been linked with a shock move to sign veteran defender Gerard Pique, whose relationship with Barcelona boss Xavi Hernandez is reportedly completely broken.
It comes amid claims that Pique has had a falling out with Barca boss Xavi over a lack of playing time and a leak of the player's contract at the club by Spanish media outlet El Mundo. The 35-year-old has two seasons remaining on his contract, which ends in 2024.
Last month, Barcelona entered talks with Pique over reducing or deferring his wage but no agreement was reached between the pair. The central defender has started just one of the club's eight matches this season - lining up against Cadiz in La Liga with his only other outing being a Champions League substitute appearance against Viktoria Plzen.
Pique has fallen out of favour under Xavi following the signings of Jules Kounde and Andreas Christensen with younger players Ronald Araujo and Eric Garcia also enjoying more prominence in the line-ups in recent times.
The 35-year-old has two seasons remaining on his contract, which ends in 2024, with Sport recently reporting that Barca officials are keen for the defender to agree to tear up his contract and retire from playing entirely – although there has been no suggestion he is willing to do that. They report that this would save Barca €53million (£46m).
A report from Spanish digital media outlet Okdiario, which is regarded as somewhat controversialist but among the most read – claims that Atletico have let the Catalan club of their interest in signing Pique in January. Diego Simeone is thought to be a huge admirer of Pique and believes that his side are in need of a central defender with his profile.
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The interest comes amid discussions between the clubs over the transfer clause of Antoine Griezmann. Atleti's £40m option to sign the on-loan Griezmann permanently from Barca at the end of this campaign is based on whether he plays 30 minutes or more in upwards of 80 per cent of the matches in which he is available for selection across his loan spell.
That has seen Los Rojiblancos deploy Griezmann as a substitute in the final 30 minutes of matches in all but one of the club’s La Liga games to date. The two clubs are believed to be in negotiations to lower that clause and come to an agreement that would allow the forward to feature more.
Pique has clocked up 608 first-team appearances for the Catalan club but has fallen down the pecking order this campaign. Recent injuries to Jules Kounde and Ronald Araujo are likely to increase his involvement after the international break.
