In a world where football stars are now earning insane amounts of money per week, it was only a matter of time before one of them came out to boast about it. According to Barcelona star, Gerard Pique, he is so rich that his wealth even surpasses the budget of a rival La Liga club.
The Barcelona defender made the boast ahead of this weekend’s Catalan derby match with Espanyol in La Liga, claiming that he has more money than the annual budget Barca’s less illustrious city rivals. Trust Pique to try and get on the nerves of his opponents before a big game.
“I have more money than the budget of Espanyol this year. Nope, not just €57 million, it’s plenty more than that,” Pique said ever so casually. And he was not done, as the boast took him back memory lane to bring up another goldmine involving Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Pique claims the Swedish striker who was his former club mate takes his love of money to a different level. “He is the guy who loves money more than anyone else on Earth,” the Spanish defender said about Zlatan.
And knowing the well-travelled striker who now features in the Major League Soccer for LA Galaxy, you know it would be something really good. “He told us one day ‘Money is not the most important thing’. We did not say anything, and then he finished: ‘Having a lot of money is the most important thing’.”
It appears Pique was really in the mood to let people in on the cheeky side of some of his friends in football, as he had something to say about Lionel Messi as well, describing the Argentina maestro as one of the biggest trolls he knows.
And that is quite a statement coming from someone who can troll all day. “Messi has very ironic humour, he’s one of the biggest trolls [I know],” Pique said on Movistar+ show ‘La Resistencia’.
Whether Pique’s words would affect Barca’s opponents this weekend remains to be see. For now, the Blaugrana have a tough schedule coming up after the international break, with the derby against Espanyol followed by a game against Sam Chukwueze’s tricky Villarreal side just three days later.
Those matches lead into a crucial stretch of the season for the Ernesto Valverde’s side, as they will then face Atletico Madrid in the league before the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final against Manchester United on April 10.
