On Wednesday, LA Galaxy announced that 23-year-old old midfielder Riqui Puig would be the club’s third Designated Player heading into the 2023 season. The Spanish midfielder joined the club midway through last season and recorded three goals and five assists in 10 appearances. Puig will remain on his current three-and-a-half-year contract through the end of the 2025 MLS season.
Although he is 23, he will not be under the Young Designated Player tag as he will turn 24 midway through the season in August. The roster rules say the age of the player is determined by year and not by date of birth during the season.
The Galaxy will keep all three of its U22 Initiative roster spots, as MLS rules state, “If the third Designated Player is age 24 or older, yet is at, or below, the Maximum Targeted Allocation Money Amount ($1,651,250), the club will have all three U22 Initiative Slots.” According to the MLSPA salary guide, Puig’s base salary last season was $1,612,500.
As Lucas Calegari signed a U22 player earlier this week, the Galaxy needed to be in compliance with rules allowing the club to use all three spots, as Dejan Joveljić and Efrain Alvarez occupy the other two.
“The intention was for him to come and play and there was the opportunity for him, with production with quality, with showing what he’s capability of, to grow into that position,” said Galaxy head coach Greg Vanney on whether Puig was intended to eventually become one of the club’s DP’s. “If and when one opened up, and he was doing the job that we all kind of thought and expected him to do, and he came and he earned it is what it comes down to. The [Designated Player] spot opened up, he earned it and so that's kind of the next natural step.”
Puig led MLS in his 10-match stretch last season with five assists, in addition to passes attempted (678), passes completed (623), successful passes ending in the final third (213), tied for first amongst all field players in minutes played (799 minutes), and led the Galaxy with eight goal contributions (3 goals and the aforementioned five assists). On the defensive end, the midfielder ranked fourth in the league in duels won (55) and tied for 12th in possessions won (54).
Adding Puig as a DP also helps the Galaxy in its roster building. “It also makes sense for us in terms of how we're shaping the budget and the flexibility that we can get out of the situation in terms of timeline," Vanney noted. "That's one of the biggest reasons why now and maybe not down the road or in the future but it gives us a lot of flexibility inside of our roster building for where we are in the moment,”
Vanney also mentioned that the club can make two or three moves between now and the next month. LA still needs a winger and also may look to add experienced players on the backline to round out the team's depth.
Aiming for it all
Puig is expected to play at a high level and be a consistent game-changer every match he plays now that he's got the DP tag. He’s got that extreme competitiveness in his character. As he told reporters in Wednesday’s presser, he's so competitive that he had to quit playing tennis due to taking disrespecting an opponent too far.
“I want to aspire for everything, I want to win everything,” said Puig. “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 and I will work hard to achieve that.”
Vanney confirmed that Chicharito and Douglas Costa will each miss a couple of weeks due to injury, which leaves Puig as the only official DP heading into the club's trip to Texas to face FC Dallas.
“I think it's a team sport, the leadership of a player or two it is more on the collective side and not just on the individual player,” said Puig about heading into the match with the other DP’s hurt. “But if I play well, I think the team will play well and vice versa. If the team plays well, I will play well. I think we're stronger when we're playing as a team with a lot more possession with the ball and I want to be my best and give it my all on the field.”
With 10 games played last season, Puig got a taste of the level of play and physicality of the league. Puig looks to improve his physicality and add that to his style of play. “Since I came here, the Galaxy has put a plan for me to be more physical. I’m working to be more physical, I think it’s one of the aspects I need to better improve on,” he assessed. “Where I came from, it wasn’t something I worked on. I think here I can improve that and it’s a plus for my football.”
The Galaxy opens their season against FC Dallas on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. PT.
