This summer during Euro 2024, PSG supporters had to pinch themselves when seeing Fabian Ruiz’s performance with Spain. Sparkling against Croatia then against Italy, the midfielder had a string of big matches throughout the competition. He was even named in the first eleven of the competition, bringing a smile to the Parisian fans. The latter could rejoice for two different reasons. On the one hand, the former Neapolitan could have come back fully loaded and equipped with a whole new stature after two lackluster first seasons. On the other hand, the club could sell him and take advantage of his current very high rating.
After three months of competitions, it is clear that neither happened. The idea of a sale has not been ruled out by Parisian management, as we revealed to you then. We still need offers that haven’t come, and a coach who wouldn’t count on him. It is therefore with the label of brilliant European champion that Ruiz began this 3rd exercise in Paris. And the expectations that go with it. Unfortunately for him, it doesn’t turn out the way he wanted. Returning a little later than the others, he first missed the first match of the season, then returned to the competition a little late, while Luis Enrique had already implemented certain ideas.
Luis Enrique wanted to keep him this summer
The Ile-de-France coach favors with a certain logic a trio made up of Zaire-Emery, revelation of the previous season and new strong symbol of the club since the departure of Kylian Mbappé, João Neves, the most expensive recruit of the summer (60 M €), and Vitinha, probably the best Parisian of the previous year. In these conditions, all that remained was for the Spanish international to bide his time. This came, quite quickly even since he started 5 times in Ligue 1 (out of 10 matches played and 11 days, 1 goal) and twice in the Champions League (out of 4 matches, 1 assist).
But each time an observation emerges, the 28-year-old player does not win despite a more successful last match in Angers (4-2). “Fabi played a very complete match, he has a different vision of the game, he is a top player. We have already seen him in Spain, he won the Euro this summer», recognized Luis Enrique at the microphone of DAZN. In the opinion of those close to the player, nothing has changed in his habits since the Euro. The Parisian context is quite simply different from that of the selection where he is an indestructible figure, as evidenced by his recent consistent outings in the Nations League. An astonishing statistic, he has never lost a single match in 33 caps (6 goals, 10 assists).
Fabian Ruiz: “I find that the way of playing at PSG and in Spain is very similar»
“If his name wasn’t Fabián Ruiz, we would talk about him a lot more. We live with him, we know his value», assured Luis de la Fuente during the Euro. It was this coach who put him back in the saddle with La Roja, he who had no longer been called up between the end of Euro 2020 (in 2021) and March 2023. During the second part of his mandate, and then even though he gave him his first caps in June 2019, a certain Luis Enrique completely put the midfielder in the closet. The reason? The coach suspected him of having leaked his squad before the Euro semi-final against Italy. The internal investigation never yielded anything and this story will probably remain a mystery.
Still, the two men found themselves at PSG. And the trend observed during the Spaniard’s first two seasons at PSG is confirmed. “I always give my best, whether with Paris or in the selectionaffirmed the person concerned Parisian before the semi-final between France and Spain (1-2) at the Euro. Afterwards, if some prefer me in the national team than in the club, I don’t have much to say to them. The main thing is to give everything for my teams. For the moment everything is going well. I find that the way of playing at PSG and in Spain is very similar, with Spanish coaches. Both love to have possession, there are real similarities.» But different contexts.
