In a recent interview following Barcelona‘s 1-0 win over Elche earlier this month (via Marca), Ronald Koeman recommended a loan move for Riqui Puig when he said, “It’s not true that [Riqui Puig] is not in our plans. I spoke to him yesterday. I speak to the young players – they have to play. They can’t not be playing.
“Him, [Carles] Alena, Pedri…I’ve told them that it’s difficult for them and there’s lots of competition. Nothing more.
“I’ve told [Riqui Puig] that he has a future here, but it depends on the player. I’d recommend that he went out on loan. At 20 years of age, the young players have to play. They can’t get stuck for a period of time.”
Puig’s Incredible Rise At Catalonia Recently
Puig enjoyed a wonderful breakout campaign at the Nou Camp in the last term when he produced several eye-catching displays as an energetic presence in the Barca midfield. The Matadepera-born prospect made 12 senior appearances for the Catalan giants, finding the back of the net twice while providing three assists on all fronts.
More importantly, the Spanish whizkid discovered a little bit of consistency with his all-round performances at the centre of the park after he averaged 1.0 tackles, 0.5 interceptions, 0.7 shots, 0.9 key passes and 1.1 dribbles per 90 minutes in La Liga last season. The 21-year-old was even exceptional when distributing possession from midfield as evident from his pass success rate of 90.5% in the top tier of Spain (stats via whoscored).
What Are The Spanish Midfield Ace’s Best Attributes?
Puig is not the quickest midfielder, but he makes up for his lack of pace by dribbling with the ball using wonderful close-control, composure and agility in the opposition half. The Spanish wonderkid is also a tidy distributor of the ball and has shown that he has the vision to pick out a killer pass in the attacking third. He has the ceiling to become one of the best players of his generation, but at 21, he is still too inexperienced at the highest level.
Letting Puig Leave On Loan: Good Decision By Ronald Koeman?
Maybe a season-long loan switch to another top-flight club could help Puig take his game to another level and return as a better player next summer. At the same time, it is difficult to understand why Koeman wants him to leave the Nou Camp in the first place as the current Barcelona squad is clearly not strong enough to compete for top honours in the upcoming campaign.
A player of Puig’s skillset could be a useful presence in Koeman’s midfield department as the Spanish starlet has already proven that he has what it takes to compete with the likes of Frenkie de Jong and Sergio Busquets at the Nou Camp. Plus, he is also good enough to give Miralem Pjanić and Rafinha a run for their money in the race to secure a regular midfield berth under Koeman’s tutelage this season.
All in all, it seems like the new Barca manager is making the wrong call by deciding to sanction Puig’s departure on loan this summer as he would be better off keeping him as a rotational player for the 2020-21 campaign.
