Ronald Koeman accused Barcelona starlet of being a “leaker”

The alleged incident took place before Barcelona’s Joan Gamper match.

One of the more head-scratching situations of this Barcelona season has been the small amount of game time given to Riqui Puig by Ronald Koeman. It appears that we may finally have an answer as to why.

Spanish newspaper El Pais revealed that there was an altercation between the manager and the player in the dressing room prior to the Joan Gamper match against Elche.

More from Everything Barca

• FC Barcelona tracking Belgian Wonderkid
• FC Barcelona vs Betis Player Ratings
• Barça boss Xavi to get contract extension
• FC Barcelona planning swoop for Arsenal midfielder
• Barcelona interested in €30 million wonderkid

According to El Pais, Koeman called Puig a “leaker” in front of the entire dressing room as the Dutchman believed he was the one who leaked to the press the conversation he had with the player in which he told Puig to find another team because he wasn’t going to count on him.

The report goes on to state that some of the players were impressed with what Koeman did because they are not sure about Puig’s attitude. There were others who were less so because Koeman did not have a similar response when Luis Suarez revealed what was said in their phone call when he was told he was no longer wanted at the club.

Any way one looks at it, it’s another view of the disfunction evident in the Barcelona dressing room. There is no sense of unity and camaraderie between the players which is then reflected on the pitch.

While half the locker room seemed to approve of how he handled the situation, the other half did not. Questions surrounding Koeman and his decisions were already taking place even before the start of the season.

It is not known if Riqui Puig actually was the one who leaked that information to the press. But the suspicion appears to be enough to more or less ostracize from the team. It may not be the entire reason but it certainly has to factor in the decision to not play him.

The influence by some of the heavyweights in the Barcelona locker room has been talked about plenty. Little doubt exists that some players enjoy different treatment than others. The one constant seems to be that when a young player makes a mistake or has a bad game, it is easy to no longer count on them or call them out.

The same cannot be said for some of the veterans who no matter how poor a performance they had, they would not be benched or be called out publicly by the manager.

The winter transfer window is set to open soon. Puig may have more of a future with Barcelona than Koeman. But the transfer window will see how big the rift between the two really is if he’s sent out on loan or outright transferred.

This season has been a tumultuous one for the Catalan side, both on and off the pitch. The start of the new year could bring even more bad news and drama to a team that has seen plenty of it the last few seasons.