Gerard Pique,a Catalan-Spanish football player was purchased by Manchester United from FC Barcelona on 1 July 2004. In the 2006-07 season he was loaned out to Real Zaragoza. He made his debut with Manchester United on 26 October 2004 against Crewe Alexandra. He has also played for the Spanish U17 and U19 teams.

The fact that Pique's surname is 'Bernabeu' has led to some confusion regarding his origins, as shares his name with the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, home of another Spanish giants Real Madrid. The discrepancy arises from the fact that the stadium was named in honour of Santiago Bernabéu, a former President of the Madrid club. In fact, the name Bernabeu is Catalan in origin and well spread in Barcelona. Pique (another typical Catalan surname) is the grandson of the celebrated former vice-president of FC Barcelona, Amador Bernabeu.

Piqué made his Premiership bow in October as a late replacement for Irish international John O'Shea, in a 3-1 victory at Sunderland. He made his full debut for Manchester United on 29 March 2006 against West Ham United in a England Premier League game at the Old Trafford playing as right-back, since team captain Gary Neville was unavailable through injury. He even managed to get a shot on goal from 40 yards out which was saved to stop Gerard scoring on his full Premiership debut.

His performances, most notably in the reserve team, have earned him a new contract, signed in February 2005 to run until the summer of 2009.

Pique was a member of the Spanish under 19 side that won the UEFA Under-19 Championship. They beat Scotland U19 2-1 in the final with Pique putting in a strong performance in defense, hitting the crossbar with a header, and also providing his team's second goal for teammate Alberto Bueno.

On 4 August 2006, Spanish La Liga outfit Real Zaragoza secured Pique on a season-long loan. The conditions of the loan involved Piqué having to feature in at least 20 games for the Estadio La Romareda outfit.

On 5 May 2007, it was announced that Pique would be staying at Old Trafford next season. It was intended for Sir Alex Ferguson to be at La Romareda to watch Piqué play on 6 May, in an effort to gauge the youngster's progress, before having a meeting with the player to discuss his future with Man Utd, but this was unable to take place, due to problems with flights.

He has since returned to Manchester United. He scored on his first start in the Champions League in a 4-0 win against Dynamo Kiev played on 7 November 2007 at Old Trafford, Piqué scored the first of Manchester United's 4 goals in that match. In doing so, he became the 450th Manchester United player to score at least one goal for the club. Following his first goal for the club, Pique got his second in another Champions League match, this time, away at Roma on December 12.

Pique is still young, and with a lot of potential, Manchester United and its fans hope for the best future ahead full of titles and glories with the young Spaniard.

 

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