CAPE TOWN – Former Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney has revealed the moment that ended Gerard Pique’s career at the club.
Pique joined Manchester United from Barcelona’s academy in 2004 and provided defensive cover for the club, playing behind legends Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand.
Unable to claim a regular place in the side, he was sold back to Barcelona in 2008, and went on to win numerous Spanish and European titles, and was also a member of the Spain side that won the World Cup in South Africa in 2010.
But according to Rooney, Pique’s Old Trafford career came after he was bullied by Bolton Wanderers at the Reebok Stadium during the 2007/08 campaign.
“Bolton away more or less finished Gerard Pique’s career at United,” Rooney wrote in his UK Sunday Times column.
“He was young and got bullied there and I think that’s when Fergie decided that, physically, he wasn’t right for the Premier League.
“I always remember Vidic: if we were going to Bolton – and it was the same when he was about to face Didier Drogba – he would be in the gym for two or three days before, pumping himself up.
“Bolton away was always horrible. It was physical and you knew you had to win the fight to win the game. I remember Evra saying about Kevin Davies: ‘I hate this person’.”