Cape Town - Barcelona defender Gerard Pique has apparently let slip that team-mate Cesc Fabregas is leaving the club for 33 million euros ($45 million) in a remark overheard by Spanish public television.
The 27-year-old Spanish international Pique seemed to inadvertently divulge the price tag of Fabregas. Fabregas has been linked with Chelsea, Manchester United as well as a sensational return to Arsenal.
Pique, covering his mouth, but speaking into the live microphone of TVE, a public television channel, at a promotional event in Washington DC where Spain were training ahead of a friendly against El Salvador on Saturday.
Just before the start of the event, Spanish mentor Vincente Del Bosque asks: "About Cesc (Fabregas)…"
To which Pique replied: "He already told me it’s done. He is leaving for 33 million euros."
Del Bosque replied that the departure of Fabregas, 27, would be bad news for the president, an apparent reference to Barcelona boss Josep Maria Bartomeu.
The press however seemed to catch onto this conversation and it seems unclear if Pique and Del Bosque were truly caught in an offhand moment.
Mundo Deportivo, a Spanish tabloid, said the pair's smiles raised suspicions that the remarks were actually a practical joke on the media.
Spain face the Netherlands in their first group match at the 2014 Soccer World Cup.