At 22 years of age and yet to fully establish himself in Barcelona’s first-team, Riqui Puig needs to quickly face up to the inevitable.
The central midfielder has played just over 40 games for the club’s senior side, per transfermarkt, but these have been spread over four seasons and Puig has rarely completed a full 90 minutes.
It’s not as if the reality hasn’t been spelled out to the player either.
MARCA noted Ronald Koeman’s desire to sell the player earlier in the year, with it believed the relationship between the pair is frosty at best.
Furthermore, three different managers can’t be wrong, with Quique Setien and Ernesto Valverde also not relying on Puig to any great degree.
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Puig’s strength of character is laudable in that he clearly wants to succeed at Barcelona and arguably prove everyone wrong.
However, there comes a point when he has to accept that unless he leaves, he will stagnate and a promising career will go down the pan.
There may be help at hand, with Sport noting that Jose Mourinho wants to sign him on loan in January.
Should the status quo remain the same between now and then, a fresh start at Roma could be exactly what he needs.
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