Riqui Puig is one of the players that has been left in a more difficult position at Barcelona since the arrival of Ronald Koeman as a manager than before him. The youngster was asked to go out on loan by his manager, but Puig stayed in Catalonia, intent on fighting for his place in the club.
While the decision was no doubt a brave one from the La Masia graduate, it has seen him being relegated to the bench almost completely. The 21-year-old has only been on the pitch for 77 minutes across all competitions and that number is not doing any benefits to his progress as a young and developing midfielder.
What is even worse for his future in Barcelona is the fact that he has been called ‘a leak’ by Ronald Koeman in front of the entire Barcelona locker room. The allegation made by the manager deals with the fact that the media was quite fast in picking up on the information.
According to Koeman, Puig broke the news to the press himself. However, whether or not that is actually the case is something that is yet to be confirmed. The Barcelona locker room had mixed reactions to the incident.
While some of the players were happy that Koeman is trying to get rid of players with ‘harmful attitudes’ at the club, the others were not as supportive of the coach’s intentions.
In a rather similar comparison, the Dutchman also told former Barcelona striker Luis Suarez that he was no longer required at the club via a phone call. The Uruguayan went on to join Atletico Madrid and has also been joined by Ivan Rakitic and Arturo Vidal on his way out of Barcelona.
For the sake of his development, Puig would be better suited to go out and get some game time under his belt than to warm the bench every week and wait for an opportunity to come by at Barcelona, because Koeman does not look keen on it at all.
