Riqui Puig lighting up MLS as its best-kept secret

The Riqui Puig from 2024 is nearly unrecognizable from 2021. For starters, the La Masia graduate has traded his brown, flowing hair for a bleached blond, shorter hairstyle. Puig now dons the lightning-white jerseys of LA Galaxy rather than the blue and garnet of Barcelona. Rather than a star-struck youngster noted for his creativity, raw talent and impatience, Puig has matured into one of the best players MLS has to offer. Puig is a new man, one who could arguably start on a Champions League roster this season.

Puig faced difficulties at Barcelona

It’s shown. Puig broke through Barcelona’s first team during the catastrophic Koeman era with comparisons to Andres Iniesta before he played a LaLiga match. Puig was heralded as the most creative midfielder on the team, past young phenoms Pedri and Gavi.

He burst onto the scene as a precocious teenager who stunned everyone with his skill. Puig stepped into a midfield of Sergio Busquets, Arturo Vidal and Arthur Melo, all known as three of the world’s best midfielders and completely controlled the tempo. Although his best attribute was his creativity: linking play up with the midfield and carving up low blocks; he could drop deep and help beat the press. Standing at 5’7, Puig was the archetype of La Masia midfielders: diminutive, crafty midfielders who could carry the ball well.

But his flair reportedly came with a lack of maturity on the field. Puig, seeming fit as a creative No. 10, often wandered away from his assigned spaces, causing defensive breakdowns. Puig looked lazy on defense at times, and when compared with brighter talents like Pedri, Ilaix Moriba and Frenkie de Jong, Puig didn’t neatly slot into Koeman’s starting eleven.

With Barcelona billions of euros in debt and facing an apocalyptic future without Lionel Messi, Koeman was fired, and Xavi came in. Under Xavi, Puig saw fewer minutes behind Busquets, de Jong and Gavi. Later, Puig would be forced out.

“I believe I was not treated fairly when I came back to training in pre-season last summer when the club did not let me train with them,” Puig said. “I think if I still have a contract with the club, I should be able to act like that and they can’t tell me not to train with them.”

“That’s what annoyed me during my last years there. As soon as this happened, I tried to look for my way out pretty quickly,” he added. “I had the LA Galaxy option quite advanced and wanted to move abroad, change my life, and go to the other side of the world.”

Riqui Puig leads an LA Galaxy team poised for trophies

After landing in Los Angeles, the difference in culture between a soccer-crazy Barcelona city and a team with ten pro sports teams was striking for Puig.

“I can play golf in peace here, it’s good for me to disconnect. When I played in Barcelona, it was mayhem. I can go to dinner in peace here, and no one bothers me.”

“I’m young and I wanted to go out. There were non-sports issues. People followed me to my home, they wanted to know where I was going to have dinner. It was my private life. Here in the US, football is the fourth sport.”

So was the tempo and quality of play. Puig stepped into an LA Galaxy squad looking for midfielders and immediately became the team’s best playmaker. In just 12 appearances with LA Galaxy, Puig scored three goals, added two assists, and led the team to a Western Conference semi-final appearance.

A season later, Puig enjoyed creative freedom on a mediocre Galaxy squad. Puig led the league in several passing-related stats, including progressive passes and passes into the final third. The Spaniard retained his status as arguably the best midfielder in the league thanks to his dribbling, ability to create shots and sheer attacking talent. Puig made opportunities out of nothing — where his attack failed, he excelled.

Puig’s future in MLS

After falling short of a playoff appearance in 2023, LA Galaxy shelled out $21 million on player transfers, including a club record $10 million on Brazilian winger Gabriel Pec. Now, Puig is enjoying an entirely refurbished front line to work with. Ex-Genk winger Joseph Painstil and striker Diego Fagundez have hit the ground running in 2024.

Fourth in the Supporters’ Shield standings, LA Galaxy scored the fifth-most goals in the league. Their play has been brilliant, with Puig as the team’s gleaming center jewel. Despite playing as a #10, Puig often drifts deep to take the ball from the center-backs. Despite his questionable defensive work rate, Puig has the most touches in the league. He’s offensively gifted, so much so that he overshadowed Messi in Galaxy’s 1-1 draw with Inter Miami.

Puig previously told Los Angeles outlets that his goal would be to return to Europe and it’s a big possibility. Rumors rose that Barcelona wanted to bring him back to Camp Nou due to their midfield revamp, and Puig could find a home at a top-tier LaLiga side as well. However, Puig recently inked a contract extension to keep him in LA until 2027. If a team wants him, they could have to pay upwards of $20 million.

With Lionel Messi nearing the twilight of his career and Thiago Almada set to make his Botafogo debut tomorrow, Puig could very well be called the face of MLS. His creativity and intelligence have gotten him several fans, and he’s one of the flashiest players in the league. It helps even more that LA Galaxy is arguably the most entertaining team in the West. He’ll be the name you’ll need to know as LA Galaxy searches for its first MLS Cup in a decade.

PHOTOS: IMAGO