Leeds United fullback Junior Firpo has received some important compliments in his home country this week.
That happened with Barcelona legend Carles Puyol paying a visit to the Dominican Republic. The former La Roja defender went there for marketing reasons, and when holding a press conference, he commented on a couple of local players.
“Firpo is a good player. At Betis he had a very good season and that helped him get to Barcelona and there was a lot of competition ahead,” Puyol told the media (via El Caribe).
“He had Jordi Alba ahead, he was giving a very good performance, he’s a player with a great future, I think he’s going to have a good career.”
Despite being born in the Dominican Republic, Firpo only started his professional career in Spain, where he played for the academies of Atletico Benamiel, Tiro Pichon and Malagueno.
The left-back had his La Liga debut for Real Betis and soon joined Barcelona for a €20m fee. He played for the Catalan side between 2019 and 2021, and that’s where Puyol got to know his potential.
Firpo ended up joining Leeds in a €15m move in 2021, with Barcelona agreeing to keep 20% of a future transfer. The 26-year-old started the current season recovering from a knee injury, and after getting minutes in Premier League 2 last week, he should soon be back with the Whites’ first team squad.
