I was a Man United wonderkid - Sir Alex Ferguson was my second dad but joining club was wrong move

Former Manchester United defender and Spain international Gerard Pique has revealed that he wanted to leave Old Trafford after just six months following his move from Barcelona as a 17-year-old.

The World Cup winner arrived at Man United in 2004 from the impressive La Masia academy at Barcelona for free, having decided to not sign a professional contract with the Spanish giants but to instead move to England. However, the Spaniard has been open about his struggle to adjust to life in England and the culture shock he experienced early on in his career with the Red Devils.

While many will remember the star for his three Champions Leagues, numerous La Liga's and Copa Del Rey's on top of the 2010 World Cup and 2012 European Championship trophies he won with Barcelona and Spain later in his career, it wasn't an easy start to life as a professional footballer for Pique, who claims that at the time, he wished he could go back in time and never arrive in England in the first place.

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"It was a very hard decision and when I took that decision, really after six months if I could've gone back [in time], I would've stayed at Barcelona," Pique admitted on BBC Sport's Football Daily Podcast. "But because you are young, you're 17, and you think you can do whatever you want and beat everyone above you, I thought 'Why not? Let's go to Manchester and try myself'.

"It was tough. I left my home, my family, my friends, I went alone. My first year, I lived with a family in Manchester and for me, the food, the weather, the language, the culture, it was a big change.