Barcelona Have Inserted An 'Anti-Pique' Clause Into New Contracts

Barcelona have begun to insert 'Anti-Gerard Pique' clauses into new contracts in an attempt to stop players being too interested in non-footballing commitments.

The Spanish defender has been heavily involved in his off-field work over the past few years and Barca's hierarchy have had enough.

ABC have reported the Catalan giants have inserted clauses to 'avoid repeating situations' and any outside business activities requires the 'express authorisation of Barcelona.'

PA

Some of Pique's outside activities in recent years have included helping to revamp tennis' Davis Cup competition as well as purchasing a controlling stake in Andorra FC.

He has also taken part in a poker tournament plus started a sports and media investment group named Kosmos Holding.

The first inklings of Pique's commitment to outside causes came in 2018 when he traveled to Orlando without approval from then manager Ernesto Valverde.

Pique discussed the situation upon his return and stated:

"He asked me where I was and when I told him Orlando, he was startled: 'Not to mention, it's a very long trip. I insisted that I would return and we would win [our next game]. So it was, the format was approved and when I returned, we won."

PA

Another clause which will be in new contracts is the control of social media accounts and the content posted.

Pique again is a big offender, with his now iconic 'he stays' post referring to former teammate Neymar standing out.

The 32-year-old took to Twitter to post the message alongside the Brazilian as rumours of his departure to PSG rumbled.

However, Neymar ended up joining the French giants for a world record free just over a week later.

It will be interesting to see if new manager Quique Setien has any say on toning down Pique's outside work.

The former Real Betis manager signed with the La Liga leaders yesterday after sacking Valverde.

Barca's loss to Atletico Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup on Thursday sealed the fate of Valverde, who was booed by fans in Saudi Arabia.

Do you think Setien will be a success as Barcelona manager?

Sound off in the comments below.

Topics: Football, Barcelona, Gerard Pique, La Liga

Daniel Marland

Daniel is a journalist for SPORTbible and he has previous experience with Manchester United. He has spoken to some of the biggest names in sport including Rio Ferdinand, Peter Crouch, WWE COO Triple H and WWE legend The Undertaker. May or may not do a decent impression of Jamie Carragher.

@DanMarland_