Barcelona captain Carles Puyol announced today that he will be leaving Barcelona at the end of the season after 14 years at the club.
At a press conference the 35-year-old defender said:
“The reason I have called you here today is to tell you that at the end of the season I will no longer be an FC Barcelona player. The Club knows about this and we are agreed on the matter and how it should be dealt with. We shall rescind my contract and leave it without effect for the two years that were left on it.
After two very serious operations, I’m finding it very hard to get back to the level I need to be at to stay here. Much more than I thought and much more than the surgeons told me. That’s why I have made this decision.”
Noticeably absent from Puyol’s comments was that he was retiring. He left playing elsewhere next season open saying:
“I don’t know what I’ll do after June 30, but what I am sure of is that when the season ends I’m going to need to get some rest. I haven’t stopped for four years because of injuries. After that, we’ll see what happens.”
Puyol will go down as one of the all-time Barcelona greats. His 593 games played for the club is second only Xavi Hernandez with 709. In his 14 years at the Camp Nou Puyol has won an impressive number of trophies including La Liga (6), Copa del Rey (2), Champions League (3), Super Cup (2) and Club World Cup (2).