Arnau Puigmal will have to remain patient in his post-United career

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Arnau Puigmal was among the Manchester United youngsters to leave the club in the summer.

The midfielder opted to swap Old Trafford for Almeria and join his former United academy teammate Largie Ramazani.

After losing out to Girona in the La Liga 2 play-off semi-finals last season, Almeria are top of the league after eight games going into the October international break.

But Puigmal’s and Ramazani’s roles in the Almeria side couldn’t be any further apart, one is spearheading his team’s charge, whilst the other is simply craving minutes on the pitch.

Difficult start for Puigmal

The Spanish Under-19 international wouldn’t have expected things to be plain sailing at his new club, but he is yet to experience that lift off moment which has ignited his Almeria career.

Since coming on as a half-time substitute in the 2-1 defeat to SD Amorebieta, Puigmal has only had 26 minutes of action across five matches.

In Almeria’s eight league matches thus far, Puigmal has played 80 minutes and been an unused substitute on two occasions.

Whereas Ramazani has three goals in eight matches for the team and his importance is growing.

Similar path to Ramazani

But like Puigmal, in his first season in Spanish football, Ramazani had to bide his team and take his chance when it was presented to him.

Across 29 matches in all competitions, Ramazani averaged 42 minutes of action per game.

For context, last year Ramazani only played the full 90 minutes once in La Liga 2. This time around the winger has already completed the full game twice (Transfermarkt). He’s averaging 78 minutes per game currently.

Puigmal will know his chance will come if he follows his one-time United teammate’s example.

Puigmal’s impact isn’t likely to grab the headlines in the same way Ramazani can. But he did score 10 times in 28 outings for United’s U23s so he knows where the back of the net is.

Puigmal will be eager to justify his brave decision to leave United in the same way Ramazani and Angel Gomes have.

He certainly has the talent to build a prosperous career on home soil, but he may have to remain patient, bide his time and impress whenever he gets the chance.

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