Rewind to summer 2004 and Pique cut a rather different figure to the strapping, confident young man we see today. Back then he was a shy, rather nervous 17-year-old, who'd swapped Catalonia for Manchester in search of first-team opportunities. A central defender of great promise, he had earned rave reviews during his time with Barça, whom he'd joined as an eight-year-old. Despite excitement at signing for the Reds, Pique admits upping sticks was daunting.

“I knew it would be difficult to begin with because it was the first time I'd been away from home, and my grasp of the English language wasn't good enough to have a good conversation with people,” he explains. “For a while I only used to see the bad things, like the rain, but I soon realised if I thought like that I'd never be happy.

”So I started to change my mentality and, after two or three months, felt much more settled. The club looked after me brilliantly and I felt very welcome from the moment I arrived. From the boss to the kitman, to the family at my digs in Sale, everyone was great. “

Adapting his diet was another major hurdle.

”I really struggled with the food when I joined and if I'm honest I hated it, “ he admits. ” The family at my digs were great - they adapted to my style of food because I didn't really like anything English. I ate steak and tried eating vegetables like cauliflower,” he adds, grimacing at the thought. “But I still found it very difficult! My parents used to bring Spanish ham and other foods with them when they came to stay and that kept me going during that period. But I've adapted to life here and have grown to like the food – now I eat lots of traditional dishes like fish and chips.”