Riqui Puig Reveals The Reason For Leaving Barcelona For LA Galaxy, Riqui Puig: I'm Heartbroken

Riqui Puig (Instagram.com/@riquipuig)

JAKARTA - Former Barcelona player, Riqui Puig revealed the reason for choosing to leave Camp Nou and join Major League Soccer (MLS) club, Los Angeles Galaxy. This was done by Puig because he was hurt.

Reporting from Marca, Friday, Puig moved to LA Galaxy on a free transfer because he was disappointed after being excluded from Barcelona's tour of the United States a few weeks ago.

"Stayed in Barcelona, while my team-mates were in Los Angeles to play. To be honest I was hurt. It was a difficult situation," said Puig.

"I have four team-mates who also don't play well and don't come to Los Angeles. But their condition is worse because they are in Barcelona with only a physical coach,"

"You have to make decisions sometimes. They have one decision, I don't agree with them and it's okay," he explained.

Although it was hard to separate because they had been together for seven years, Puig felt he had to make a decision for the continuation of his career in the future.

"Because I've been at Barcelona for seven years, of course it's a difficult decision. But I didn't play and I didn't feel important there. Until it finally came for me to make a decision," explained Puig.

After asking Barcelona to let him go, Puig was actually interested in several other clubs in Europe. However, an attractive offer from LA Galaxy coach, Greg Vanney, made Puig choose to compete in MLS.

"There were a number of offers from Europe, until I finally accepted an offer from the Galaxy. The first thing I did was talk to the coach to see if he could give me confidence," said Puig.

"This is one of the decisions I am most proud of as a player and in fact I am very surprised by the club and the players here (LA Galaxy)," he said.

Together with LA Galaxy, Puig, who is currently 23 years old, received a two-year cooperation contract or until 2025