LA Galaxy hoped to have its star Riqui Puig available for the start of the 2026 Major League Soccer season, but it has just received the worst possible news on the matter.
According to The Athletic, Puig, 26, will have to undergo another knee surgery, which puts his availability for the 2026 MLS season in doubt.
The Catalan midfielder already underwent surgery at the end of 2024 for an ACL injury suffered in that year’s Western Conference final vs. Seattle Sounders, which caused him to miss the entire 2025 season, without participating in an official match with the Galaxy since November 2024.
Puig is the LA Galaxy’s best player, and his absence weighed heavily during the past season. In 2024, he registered 13 goals and 15 assists in 29 matches.
Photo by Shaun Clark/Getty Images
LA Galaxy Head Coach Greg Vanney Hoped to Have Riqui Puig in 2026
LA Galaxy initially hoped to have Puig available for the start of the 2026 MLS season. A couple of months ago, head coach Greg Vanney shared his expectations on the matter.
“We’re already starting the reintegration of Riqui in our group in training, and you can already sense a different momentum in the group in a different way of how he impacts the game,” Vanney said, via Los Angeles Daily News. “He’s such a unique player and how he impacts the game.”
“He’s a phenomenal soccer player,” he added. “I mean, just the second he gets on the field, the passes that he hits, the things that he sees, how he uses everybody around the field, is just so different. It’s so different than anything that we had going on this year in the midfield. It’s unique.”
Vanney also made it clear that he was expecting Puig to be fully involved in the 2026 training camp before the start of the next season, but it seems now everything has changed.
“I wouldn’t say that he’s up to full speed by any stretch,” he claimed. “But the trust they have that he’s going to see and play the balls that he needs to play, gives them the faith and the trust to make the runs that they need to make.”