BarcelonaYears ago, many fans dreamed of a midfield with Arthur, Frenkie de Jong and Riqui Puig. In theory, he was a trident to dominate European football for many seasons, as we had already experienced with Xavi, Busquets and Iniesta. But in practice, this has not been fulfilled: the Brazilian is no longer there, the Dutchman has the exit door open and Matadepera’s young fiancée is packing her bags to leave, most likely, for the MLS, the league of american football Now, what all the fans dream of is seeing Pedri and Gavi dancing on the pitch, two players who have proven that they are ideal to lead the team in the coming years.
Riqui Puig arrived in the Blaugrana squad eight years ago, in 2014, to join the cadet team. He went up the ranks and marveled in the middle of the field with the youth team, proclaiming himself champion of the UEFA Youth League, until reaching Barça B (currently Barça Atlètic). He was in the subsidiary for two years, but he already made his debut with the first team on April 13, 2019, under Ernesto Valverde, when he started against Huesca in a friendly match – Barça was practically league champion and was part of a team full of rotations. Despite not having a first team card, after the suspension of competitions due to the pandemic and already with Quique Setién on the bench, he was a concurrent player in the call-ups and played a large number of minutes in the final stretch of the season He was not a full-fledged player in the first team until the following season, 2020/2021. That was what he had agreed by contract.
In his first year as a first-team player, and with Ronald Koeman as coach, Riqui Puig only played a paltry 581 minutes, spread over a total of 24 matches. Matadepera’s did not have the confidence of the Dutch coach, especially at the start of the season, in which he only played five games between League and Champions until January. The following months, and perhaps after a tug of the ears of the president and the sports area, who wanted Riqui Puig on the pitch, he began to play more matches. However, in most cases he entered the field with the game already decided to play the so-called crap minutes.
All Riqui’s supporters have always believed that with a new coach like Xavi, faithful to the Barça style, the footballer would have minutes and demonstrate what he had been aiming for for years. But it hasn’t been like that either. Coaches have been passing and no one has given him a good chance in midfield. Setién tried, but lost control of the dressing room and the historic stumble in the Champions League against Bayern left him out of contention. Koeman did not trust him at all and with Xavi the story has been more or less similar. In this last season, Riqui Puig has played fewer games than in the previous one (17) and fewer minutes (525). He has been a constant substitute and has not had the regularity he would have liked with one of his idols on the bench.
His passage through the dressing room has not been easy either and he has had some clashes with colleagues, according to the Ciutat Esportiva. Especially with the heavyweights, with whom there was friction because of their attitude in the training camp. One of the most famous was an untimely tackle by Riqui Puig on Leo Messi in which the midfielder did not even apologize, according to some witnesses. None of them, however, have ever wanted to talk about the subject.
The fate of Riqui Puig
Xavi Hernández told him, both at the end of the season and at the beginning of the pre-season, that he didn’t count on him, that he didn’t have a place in the first team. Like the others discarded, he did not go on the tour of the United States, and will have the same fate as his teammates: leaving Barça. According to various media, Riqui Puig will leave transferred to the Los Angeles Galaxy of the MLS, a surprising bet considering the age of the footballer, 22 years old, and knowing that the American soccer league is considered one of the loosest in terms of sport and a competition where players go in their last years of career, as could be the case of Sergio Busquets next year, or even Leo Messi. However, MLS is attracting more and more young Europeans and the level of football is on the rise. In the case of Riqui Puig, Barça will open the doors to the small midfielder, although an option will be kept for a future sale of the footballer. There, Riqui Puig will share a wardrobe with old acquaintances such as Chicharito Hernández or ex-Blaugrana Víctor Vázquez.
