Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand has penned an emotional letter to his former teammate Gerard Pique.
Pique announced a few days ago that he was retiring from professional football and had come to an agreement with Barcelona to terminate his contract.
The legendary Spanish defender yesterday took his final bow as he featured for the Blaugrana one last time in a victory over Almeria.
Pique hangs his boots after a trophy-laden career with Barcelona. The centre-back won 30 major trophies across his many years as a football player.
Pique signed for United in 2004 and was part of the team that won the Premier League and the Champions League in 2007/2008 under 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 he made a sensational switch back to Spain with Barcelona.
Since he made the announcement, tributes and congratulatory messages have been streaming in for one of the best defenders of his generation.
Ferdinand via his social media wrote to Pique, “My man, what a career!” Ferdinand went on to jokingly add, “Many people don’t know but I actually played one of the biggest parts in making you.”
“The fact that myself and Nemanja were playing at Man Utd you never had a chance…so you had to move on to Barcelona. That was my part in catapulting you to greatness!”
The Englishman hailed the Barca great for his illustrious time with the Catalan giants, crediting his maturity and the development he developed at Old Trafford as the ingredients that helped him to get to the top.
Ferdinand in his message, put Pique as one of the best ever to play the sport, saying it is unfortunate he never gets mentioned in the same breath as some of the other greats.
Ferdinand rounded off his statement by saying, “Respect my man for a truly great career! PS – President of Barca watching 7yrs.”
Rio Ferdinand’s message to Gerard Pique following his retirement pic.twitter.com/MjQQqiE7X2
— utdreport (@utdreport) November 6, 2022
Certainly, a worthy tribute from one legend of the game to another.
