RIQUI PUIG IS MOVING CLOSER TO LA GALAXY

 

• The La Masia product will sign with the Los Angeles club for three seasons
• The official announcement is a matter of hours

It is a question of final details. Riqui Puig's departure to LA Galaxy is practically done according to Mundo Deportivo. The MLS team has convinced the Barça player to make the move.

As per Ferran Martinez, the player will terminate his contract which ends in 2023 and Barcelona will add a sell-on clause. The signing of the 22-year-old midfielder by Galaxy is likely to be announced between today and tomorrow.

MLS Deadline - August 4th

Barça and Galaxy continued negotiating until yesterday to finish defining the last details of the agreement and it should be made official soon.

Riqui Puig arrived at Barcelona in 2014 to join the Barça cadet. In Juvenil he entered as a resident in La Masia to dedicate himself professionally to football. He managed to reach Barca B after being one of the best of the generation of 99. In 2018, they became the champions of the UEFA Youth League. The following season, Riqui made his debut with the first team.

"He's stubborn in the sense that he isn't afraid of anything. Even if he comes up against someone who is 1.95m tall, he believes in himself and that Barça DNA," Barça B coach Garcia Pimienta admitted.

Ernesto Valverde, the Barcelona head coach at the time admitted that he had far too many midfielders in his squad and that's why minutes for Puig were limited. Opportunities were restricted to the Copa del Rey. It was believed that if Carles Aleña left on loan and Ivan Rakitic got the move away, the door to the first team could open up for Riqui. The youngster had rejected all loan proposals from Real Betis, Eibar, Zaragoza, Ajax and even Al-Sadd. 

The kid can ball. “Riqui is spectacular,” AC Milan coach Gennaro Gattuso beamed after facing him, “Even though [Barcelona] have players that look like kids, the way they handle the ball amazes me. It’s the beauty of football. It’s like poetry.

Xavi Hernandez had already anointed him and pleaded for him to get more chances in the first team. Sports announcer Ray Hudson already had a nickname ready to use. "We’re all taking language training courses trying to pronounce his name properly (it’s not “pweeg,” it’s more like “pooj.” or “pudge” but with an “oo” sound like “soon.” 

According to El País, a few months before Puig jumped to the first team, Pep Segura had told the player and his father, Carles Puig, that due to lacking the right physical development, the young midfielder wouldn’t be renewed. That’s when Valverde stepped in, saying he was intent on taking Puig to the North American tour and bringing him up to train with the first team from time to time. That gave Carles Puig the confidence to petition the club president directly. Josep Maria Bartomeu agreed and Riqui Puig extended his contract by three years, plus an option for two more. Segura eventually became a convert.

In the 2018-19 season, Riqui Puig played two La Liga matches and started in both of them, playing a total of 156 minutes. A total xA of 0.6. 

It was the 2019-20 season where Puig got the breakthrough. Valverde had been sacked, and Quique Setién had taken over the reins. The world of football suffered heavy losses as the COVID–19 pandemic brought an abrupt end to various football events across the world. However, for the gem from La Masía, the tightly scheduled and burdensome La Liga timetable caused more good than harm.

Puig was Barcelona’s shining star after the restart, proving to be a breath of fresh air amidst all the chaos. With senior players requiring rest on a more frequent basis and Frenkie de Jong injuring himself early on, Puig embraced the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to dazzle Barça’s vast audience, which he did with utmost ease and confidence. 

Culés were vastly familiar with the talents young Riqui possessed and those who followed him closely at the B team were anxious to see his performance. Riqui’s breakthrough in the first team was a massive takeaway and a statement to all those who were begining to write off Barcelona’s ability to produce modern day midfielders.

Riqui was given 20 minutes against Leganés in the second match after the restart, where his immense potential was truly put to light. During certain parts of the game, Barcelona’s build ups severely lacked innovation and verticality as the azulgranas often became exceedingly static in the centre of the park. But with the introduction of Puig, Barcelona were far more effective moving forward. The Catalan boy instantly brought a surge of energy, which none of the excluding players displayed. 20 minutes is all it took for Riqui Puig to dominate Barça’s midfield and display his virtuosic abilities on the ball.

Then came Puig’s second stint as a substitute against Athletic Club, where he once again stole the show. Rakitić gave Barcelona the long-awaited opener, it was Riqui's introduction which took Barça out of the dullness and characterless football. Illuminating the pitch with his brilliance on the ball, his exquisite touches, potent positioning and magnificent mentality, Barca ball was on fire.

Setién did well to recognise the talent. He featured in the line-up against Celta Vigo and Atletico Madrid, in which he mesmerised the opposition. The game against Atleti was a sight for a sore eyes and a relief for those who questioned his ability to counter a physically robust team.

Surprisingly, his opportunities faded for a few games and his absence was felt. Real Valladolid, the youngster was only played for the first 45 minutes. Bringing him off immediately deteriorated the club’s performance. Realizing the growing importance of the player, Riqui was given a full 90 minutes in the closing game of La Liga against Alaves, which was arguably his most promising and appealing display. He managed to bag himself 2 assists and 4 key passes, while even hitting the crossbar once. The youngster, simply put, ran the show in midfield. The assists should've been higher had a couple of sitters been converted.

At that point Puig was denied going back to Barca B and was told to prepare for the Champions League. To the surprise of many, Setién didn’t seem to trust him in both fixtures in a dominated dressing room. His exclusion seemed to have a massive impact in midfield, where Barça fell prey to it’s own deficiency in creativity. Barca eventually lost to Bayern Munich 8-2 and Setien got sacked. Riqui played 11 matches and had 5 starts in the 2019-20 season with an nPxG+xA of 2.2.

Koeman time!

Ronald Koeman and Riqui Puig got off to a less than ideal start when the Dutch manager wanted to loan off the young midfielder. There was an exodus of older players such as Arturo Vidal, Ivan Rakitic, and most notably Luis Suarez. Apart from these older players, the manager also wanted to get rid of academy graduate Riqui Puig.

Koeman suggested that the Spaniard should go on a loan to a smaller club but in reality, he was subtly hinting at his exit. The Catalans were going through a rather tough financial phase and the sale of the talented youngster would have allowed Koeman to bring in a few players of his choice. However, Puig refused to leave and fight for his place in the club, and that's where problems began.

As reported by Sport, when asked why Ronald Araujo was getting game time but not him, the Dutchman replied:

“Maybe Riqui needs to be more physical, but I like players that try to improve every day and take their chances to improve with both hands. In that position (midfield) there is a lot of competition, but maybe in training he doesn’t do enough to make the coach change his way of thinking. These days it’s not just about quality, you need many other things, too.”

Here are the comments of the Spanish media at the time, who weren't really agreeing to the lack of game time 'It would be a loss for the Spanish side as the player is still very young and had shown some great performances last season. Koeman should give him a chance although if the rumors about his training ethics are true, Puig should fix that work harder to get into the squad.'

After doing very little in the first half of the campaign, Riqui Puig gradually started becoming part of Ronald Koeman's plans as some players were out injured. Since scoring the winning penalty against Real Sociedad, everything seemed to have gotten better for him.

Proof of the change was the amount of game time Puig was getting. Until the new year, Puig had played only five matches. In one month since the turn of the year, Puig had made six appearances. The academy player asked to take the fifth penalty against Real Sociedad, to the surprise of his coach. Koeman gave it him and Puig did not disappoint. 

Puig also scored in the La Liga victory at Elche. He headed home the second to seal the points and earned himself a starting XI spot against Rayo Vallecano in the Copa del Rey. Eventually as players recovered from injury, Puig's game time fell again drastically.

In comes the next season. Puig tries to convince Koeman again, this time in the pre-season. "I was desperate to get back on the grass. It's true we don't have long holidays as footballers, but this year I had over a month and I am really happy to be back at the training ground with my teammates and doing what I most like."

Season began. The 22-year-old had not featured in any of Barcelona's first three games of the season. As the previous seasons midfield was dominated by Pedri-Busquets-de Jong, Ronald Koeman's second season the start was given to Sergi Roberto-Busquets-de Jong as Pedri was out injured.

Despite the youngster making as many as 24 appearances across all competitions last term, and perhaps, for the same reason Puig must've felt he could fulfil his dream as a Barca starter. But it was clear Koeman did not see it the same way, and Puig was again pushed for an exit. Eventually Gavi and Nico Gonzales were given preference over Puig as Sergi Roberto got injured. However, Barcelona's performances started taking a hit as Lionel Messi wasn't a part of the team anymore. Koeman eventually got sacked and was replaced by club icon Xavi ‘la Maquina’ Hernandez.

The legendary midfielder faced an immense challenge to restore the fallen Spanish giants to their former glory. Barca at the time were sitting 9th in La Liga and were on the verge of getting knocked out of the group stage of the Champions League. Barcelona hadn't played Europa League in 18 years.

With the arrival of Xavi, Puig might have expected a little more time on the pitch. Puig had his second outing under Xavi against Real Betis. He was brought on in the first half after Gavi was forced out of the game with a head injury. Riqui Puig featured for 54 minutes and said he 'felt like a footballer again.'

Puig: "“Footballers want to play, I am having minutes, I am happy. I feel like a footballer again, let’s see if the results accompany us, we can fight for the league and on Wednesday in the Champions League to qualify.” 

Then came the game against Linares where there was a mix up with Jordi Alba as they failed to prevent the cross while Oscar Mingueza and Eric Garcia stood and watched Hugo Díaz head home. Puig was subbed off at half time. Since then there were a string of about 8 or more matches where Riqui Puig didn't feature under Xavi. 

As Xavi had a job on his hands, there was a severe lack of minutes for Puig again until most of the players were out injured and Puig got some minutes right at the end of the season. Although a bit rusty in some of the appearances, it was the last game of the season when Barca were down 2-0 to Villarreal when Puig was subbed on. As had usually happened in a dull Barca game, Riqui Puig came and fired up the pitch. No further goals were conceded as Barca got control of the game back. That was the last time Riqui Puig played as a Barca player.

Time to move on to LA Galaxy! Best of Luck. The player will fire up the pitch again.