Gerard Pique shares tale of when Manchester United players set fire to Patrice Evra’s trainers

A decade ago, Gerard Pique was a Manchester United player.

Signed as a youngster from Barcelona, the Spaniard might well have had a longer stay at Old Trafford had it not been for the partnership of Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic - arguably the finest central defensive pairing in the club's history. That said, things didn't pan out too badly for Pique after leaving United. A move back to Barca saw him establish himself as a key player in an enormously successful period in the club's history. Eight years after leaving Manchester, it's clear that the defender still has fond memories of his time there - such as this one: the time some of the United team set fire to a special pair of Patrice Evra's trainers... Speaking to Catalan television channel, TV3, Pique recalls how Evra had waited months for the pair of specially-designed shoes to arrive, only for some of his teammates to destroy them at the first opportunity.

“Evra one day came into the changing rooms wearing some Nike trainers that he'd ordered four months before, with the name of his kids embroidered on them. Very shiny. When he went for a shower, they took them and burnt them and what’s more, they recorded it and they sent him the video. This was the level at United. I recognise that they were pretty strong but in an English changing room it was something normal.”

Brutal. Unfortunately, Pique doesn't appear to have given any indication as to who the main culprits were. Evra presumably got over this incident, remaining at United until 2014 when he made the move to current club, Juventus. On the latest episode of the GAA Hour, Wooly chats to new Meath boss Andy McEntee about the flawed Dublin Championship and catches up with new Clare joint manager Donal Moloney. Listen below or subscribe on iTunes.