Rio Ferdinand has joked that his excellent partnership with Nemanja Vidic was the making of Gerard Pique as it forced him to leave Manchester United to play regularly at Barcelona instead.
Ferdinand sent the jibe to his former United teammate in a heartfelt message on Instagram after Pique called time on his illustrious career. The centre-back, who has won everything possible in the game, announced his decision to retire this week amid reports he was pressured to leave Barcelona so the cash-strapped club could be rid of his hefty wages.
Pique played at the Camp Nou for the final time on Saturday and kept a clean sheet as captain in a 2-0 win over Almeria. There were emotional scenes when he was taken off in the 86th minute to a rousing standing ovation and was embraced by all his teammates and manager Xavi.
