Riqui Puig’s late-season arrival immediately paid dividends for the Galaxy.
Puig, 23, arrived from Barcelona FC inside the summer transfer window and made his Galaxy debut Aug. 19.
The Galaxy posted a 4-1-5 record in the regular season in games that Puig appeared in and came close to advancing to the Western Conference finals.
Fast forward to 2023 and Puig enters his first full season on the shortlist for MLS MVP.
“I want to go for everything, I want to win everything,” Puig said Wednesday through a translator. “I want to be MVP, I want to win it all. I want to be a star in MLS and make a big name for myself in this city. I will work hard to achieve that.”
Puig enters this season as one of the Galaxy’s three Designated Players. The Galaxy made the announcement Wednesday. He’s signed with the club for the next three seasons.
The Galaxy opens the season Saturday at FC Dallas (5:30 p.m., Apple TV+) after last week’s scheduled opener against LAFC at the Rose Bowl was rescheduled due to the poor weather conditions.
Puig was unable to force his way into the Barcelona lineup and was allowed to leave last season.
In 10 regular-season games last season, Puig scored three goals and added five assists. During that stretch, he led MLS in assists, passes attempted (678), completed (623) and successful passes in the final third (213). He also showed his durability, playing in 799 minutes, the most among field players.
“In a short amount of time, six months, he’s quickly proven to people, I think, that he can impact games,” Galaxy coach and sporting director Greg Vanney said. “I’m hearing whispers around the league of a guy that might be in the MVP candidate group to start a season.
“So if he continues to perform, then I would imagine there would be a knock on some doors about contracts and extensions and progressions and all that stuff.”
After this season, the Galaxy will open two of their Designated Player slots with the contracts of Javier…
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