Pique was labelled a ‘traitor’ in the dressing room after contract renewal under Bartomeu

It has been a difficult month for Gerard Pique so far. The defender has struggled with injuries and off-field controversies, especially in connection with Luis Rubiales and RFEF’s deal with Saudi Arabia surrounding the Spanish Super Cup.

In addition to his reported corruption in facilitating the deal for his own personal gain, the defender had also asked Rubiales for a favour by including him in Spain’s squad for the Olympics.

This week, ABC (h/t Mundo Deportivo) has revealed that Pique was also the central figure behind a major dressing room fallout.

The report links the fallout to Pique’s contract extension two years ago. The defender had penned a four-year deal until 2024 with the previous president Josep Maria Bartomeu.

The new deal contained a significant raise for the experienced centre-back, a fixed salary of €41 million in the last year plus variables. Naturally, the contract did not sit well with the Barça dressing room.

The animosity between the players and Pique grew further when they learned the details of the defender’s contract, followed by Bartomeu asking the rest of the veterans to take up a significant pay cut in order to help the club out during the pandemic.

The reactions were quite telling, as Pique found the word “TRAITOR” written on the dressing room blackboard.

In the same report, it is also claimed that Pique was chosen as one of the club’s four leaders in 2018 only by experience and not by merit. He was not a likeable or respectable figure in the dressing room, with the defender even having a dysfunctional relationship with Lionel Messi.

Messi left Barcelona in the summer of 2021, and to this day, the two are not on speaking terms.