Gerard Pique had a surprise hero as a youngster despite his Barcelona connections.
The centre-back is Mr Barcelona having grown up in Barcelona before going on to play for the club for all but three years.
Pique has racked up 391 league appearances for the club and many believe he will go on to be a club president some day.
The club has a special place in the 36-year-old’s heart, and he will go down as a club legend.
But as a youngster, he idolised a Real Madrid player, unexpectedly, revealing his hero to former Manchester United teammate Gary Neville as part of Sky Bet show The Overlap.
“Mi first favourite player as a very young kid was Fernando Hierro because I fixated on players in my position.
“Then Rio Ferdinand, when I had the opportunity to play with him, and then Puyol or Gabi Milito, always in my position.”
Hierro is, of course, a Real Madrid legend, making well over 400 league appearances for Los Blancos.
He would also go on to manage Spain briefly, an experiment that didn’t go particularly well.
They do say not to meet your idols, and Pique retired after the disastrous World Cup campaign that Hierro oversaw.
Though, in Hierro’s defence, he only took over two days before the start of the competition.
