In a sentence
Creative midfielder cut from the Xavi/
Andres Iniesta cloth: small of stature
yet huge in ability.
What they say
Sergio Espejo, his coach as a schoolboy
at the Unio Jabac club: “What he did
when he was young is now being
repeated at the Camp Nou. He was not
afraid of anything. He was especially
daring, a different sort of talent.”
Barcelona B boss Xavi Garcia Pimienta:
“He has an inborn talent. He’s overflowing
with vision and cheek. He doesn’t know
fear. He doesn’t care if a tall opponent is
towering over him. He believes in himself.
He has that Barca DNA.”
The story so far
Born in August 1999 in Matadepera,
a small Catalan town 50km north
of Barcelona, he had his first taste of
organised football at the age of eight with
the Unio Jabac club in nearby Terrassa
and quickly emerged as the pick of the
litter there.
The region’s two biggest clubs,
Barcelona and Espanyol, tried to
persuade him to join their schoolboy
set-up but his parents declined both
offers and felt he would be better off
maturing at Jabac.
Eventually inducted into the Barca
academy at 14 – having sealed the deal
with an impressive performance in a
friendly against a Danish club side –
he excelled as either a false nine or
an attacking midfielder at La Masia. He
made his debut for Barca B in February
2018 in a second-tier game against
Gimnastic of Tarragona and broke into
the first team at the end of that year,
marking his senior bow with an assist in a
Copa del Rey win over Cultural Leonesa.
He helped Barcelona win the UEFA
Youth League in 2018 and was given
his first La Liga start in April 2019 in a
goalless draw with Huesca. He did not
play a single minute in the first-half
of this season, but after Quique
Setien replaced Ernesto Valverde as
coach in January he was back in the
frame and was deployed as a substitute
in a 1-0 home win over Granada.The next step
Now 20, he has a big decision to make.
With just over a year left on his contract,
and the signs being that Setien has gone
cold on his initial promise to offer more
first-team opportunities to homegrown
youngsters, the life-long Barca fan may
have to look elsewhere for regular top-
tier action. If he does have a future atCamp Nou it could depend on Ivan
Rakitic and Arturo Vidal being moved on.Strengths
His intelligence, awareness, touch and
mesmerising trickery between the lines.
With his quick feet and low centre of
gravity, he is difficult to dispossess.Weaknesses
He still has a lot to learn about the
defensive demands of the modern game
and can hold onto the ball a little too
long at times.Barcelona
Words Nick Bidwell
Riqui PUIG
“He has an inborn talent. He’s
overflowing with vision and cheek.
He doesn’t know fear”
Barcelona B-team coach Xavi Garcia Pimienta3
THINGS YOU
DIDN’T KNOW
ABOUT PUIGOHis father, Carles, played left-back in
the Spanish second and third divisions
for Terrassa.
OAfter impressing for the Barca first
team during a pre-season tournament in
America in 2018 he was singled out for
praise by Milan coach Gennaro Gattuso
who said: “He was spectacular. It was
something close to poetry.”
ONot surprisingly, his role models are
Lionel Messi and Xavi.B
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P R O T É G É S