Barcelona youth director talks about the future of the club
Barcelona’s director of youth football speaks about the club and the best path for Riqui Puig to take.
Diario Sport published an exclusive interview with Patrick Kluivert, the club director of youth football at Barcelona, where he touched upon various topics including the immediate future of Riqui Puig.
His answer regarding Puig will surely not be to the liking of many of the club supporters.
Kluivert said,
"“If you see the midfielders in the first team already — Frenkie, Arturo, etc etc — where are you going to put Riqui? With all respect. It is difficult. It’s better for Riqui to go out on loan to play at a different level and then he can return.”"
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His response makes sense up to a certain point. Puig is too talented to be playing in Segunda B and Barcelona run the risk of the player suffering a serious injury considering the challenges he endures game after game.
A loan to a second division side or first team side whether in Spain or somewhere else would be to his benefit.
At the same time, Barcelona have not had success with loaning out their young players. Their style of playing is not easily replicated anywhere else and the players always seem to return to the club having played very few minutes while out on loan.
In pre-season and when he gets a chance to play for the first team, Puig has demonstrated that he fully understands Barcelona’s style of play and is ready to make that next jump.
Sergi Roberto, the club’s only La Masia success story of the past few years until Ansu Fati, benefited from being on the first team and took advantage of the opportunities he was given without going out on loan.
Speaking of Fati, Kluivert also spoke on his rise to the first team and what should be done when everyone under Ernesto Valverde is healthy.
The Dutchman said,
"“If all the first-team players are at 100 percent, I have the feeling that he will have to play for Barça B to get some minutes in his legs.”"
He cited Carles Perez as an example who dropped down to play with Barça B over the weekend and scored in their game.
With Ansu Fati, that plan makes a little more sense than with Puig because Fati is younger and has not featured much with the B team since making his senior debut. Fati needs to develop and play and if he can’t do it with the senior team, the B team is there ready for him.
Barcelona need to do a better job promoting their players from within. While not everything Kluivert said will to be everyone’s liking, he does seem to get that they’ve not had the best record recently of promoting the academy players.
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Riqui Puig looks the most ready at the moment. The futures of Arturo Vidal and Ivan Rakitic need to be settled before Puig can be promoted. Given his talent, staying at Barcelona and getting first team minutes would be a better option than going out on loan.