Before club captain Sergio Busquets and seasoned defender Jordi Alba announced they will depart the Nou Camp at the end of the season, Pique decided to hang up his boots for good earlier in the 2022–23 campaign.
Busquets is the final remaining member of Pep Guardiola's 2009 Treble-winning Barcelona team. As a result, the most senior and experienced players in the Barca locker room have now left.
The club has had years of crippling financial issues, with apparent mismanagement driving them into financial misery. In the six years since Neymar left the team, a number of high-profile additions have been made.
However, large contracts have also contributed to the salary expense, with players like Busquets and Alba still bound by pricey agreements that
Pique, though, has taken aim at the Catalan powerhouses, saying that despite his decision to leave and help ease the country's economic woes, he does not believe that anything has changed.
I'm happy I left since I freed up money for Barça. But it appears that there are still financial issues, he said to Ibai Llanos and other Kings League participants. The Kings League was one of his many post-retirement endeavors.
"Who should leave at this time?" They said that we (Pique, Busquets, and Alba) are in charge of paying our own salaries.
Lionel Messi is eager to make a trade happen, and the club has been loud in its desire to bring him back this summer after it was revealed he was leaving PSG.
However, to make a transaction happen, the club will need to raise money by dumping players on the salary bill or selling a number of current stars. Messi's original exit came after the club was unable to pay his £500,000-a-week salaries.
Messi wants to decide on his next move quickly because Barca must present their financial situation to La Liga officials soon.
"Now that we're all gone, they still can't sign players!"
Due to Barcelona's financial instability, they were informed in March that they needed to create £178 million only to comply with LaLiga standards.
Messi is rumored to be garnering interest from clubs other than Barcelona, including David Beckham's MLS team Inter Miami and Saudi Pro League outfit Al-Hilal.
Their efforts to bring Messi back may run into another problem as a result of Busquets' departure.
The seven-time Ballon d'Or winner and the midfielder have an unofficial agreement that they will play at least one more season together before they retire.
Busquets received numerous offers as his 18-year tenure with Barca, during which he won 32 championships in 15 seasons with the senior team, came to an end.
The storied midfielder had been offered a new contract at the Nou Camp, but it required the Spaniard to sign clauses that would have him accept a 70% wage cut.
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