Speaking on the Here We Go Podcast, Fabrizio Romano has claimed that Arsenal tried to sign Riqui Puig from Barcelona in January on loan with an option to buy.
The young midfielder had previously been linked with a loan move to Leeds United, but it seems as though Arsenal were well in the race to sign him last month.
Unfortuantely, this move didn’t come to fruition as the La Liga giants decided to keep hold of the 21-year-old.
“Let’s go back to the Premier League and let’s reveal the behind the scenes of the past transfer window between two clubs, one is Barcelona and one is Arsenal.” Romano’s co-host said.
“At the start of the window Arsenal were seriously trying to sign Riqui Puig on loan with a buy option, in a similar deal as Odegaard, also with Riqui Puig at Barcelona,” Romano said.
“Barcelona said let’s see with Koeman, if he wants to keep the player, if he wants to play, let’s wait some weeks. Then in the middle of January they said no, Riqui Puig is not moving, we are keeping him.”
This is incredibly interesting to hear.
Of course, Arsenal did end up loaning in a talented young midfielder from La Liga in the shape of Martin Odegaard, but we can’t help but wonder what Puig would have been like in the Premier League.
The 21-year-old has bags of talent, and he’s even been dubbed ‘the new Iniesta’ by ex-AC Milan star Daniele Massaro.
It would have been brilliant to have seen him bring his talents to the Premier League, but unfortunately, it wasn’t to be.
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