Gerard Pique feels his failure at Manchester United was blessing in disguise

Pique has had a highly successful spell since he moved to the Catalans

Barcelona star Gerard Pique has revealed that his failure at English giants Manchester United was the best thing that ever happened to him according to reports in Eurosport. The defender feels that he would never have fulfilled his dream of becoming a Barcelona icon if he had stayed at Manchester United.

The 28-year-old spent four years in Manchester United but left the English giants in 2008. He failed to establish himself at the heart of the United defence but to be fair to the Spaniard, he had the uneviable task of trying to dislodge Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic, one of the best and most successful defensive pairing the Premier League had ever seen.

The move proved to be a blessing in disguise as Pique returned to the Nou Camp following United's Champions League final win over Chelsea in 2008 before embarking on seven glorious years with Barcelona and Spain where he has won five La Liga titles, three Champions League trophies, the 2010 FIFA World Cup and the European Championship.

The defender was speaking to the media ahead of Spain’s friendly against England in the Jose Rico Perez stadium in Alicante.

"When I was there Ruud van Nistelrooy, Cristiano Roanldo, Giggs, Scholes, Roy Keane. We won the Champions League in 2008. We won the league. It was a really, really good team," said Pique to The Telegraph.

"The centre-backs were Rio Ferdinand, Vidic. I was really unlucky. They never got injured. Then I left and then they started to get injuries! This is football, but I’m not really worried.

"It’s true that I was happy in Manchester even though I didn’t play as much as I wanted to.

"But the day I finally signed for Barcelona and I came back it was ‘wow, the dream comes true’.”

"After this we won a lot of titles and other dreams come true but the main one was playing for the club that I had supported all my life."

Not worried at being booed by Real Madrid fans: Pique

Gerard Pique has been a target of fan abuse ever since he ridiculed Real Madrid during Barcelona’s celebration of their treble winning effort last season. The defender was seen poking fun at Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo during the same.

Pique has even been booed by a portion of fans during Spain’s national team games. Spain's upcoming friendly with England has already been switched from the Bernabeu in Madrid due to the abuse Pique suffered in relation to his support for the Catalan people, and their right to vote on their future.

Whe asked about his thoughts on the abuse he has been receiving from fans, he simply said he was concentrating on helping Barcelona defend their titles this season.

“Will I get booed? I suppose so, we’ve never been welcomed at the Bernabeu, but it’s normal. There’s a strong sporting rivalry."