"Riqui is spectacular," Gennaro Gattuso said of Riqui Puig in August 2018, as quoted by ESPN. "Even though they [Barca] have players that look like kids, the way they handle the ball amazes me. It's the beauty of football. It's like poetry.
"I heard about him a while ago, and about some of the other kids at the club. It's the kind of thing you can't really copy and paste. It's something that takes years to do. It's how they feel the game.
"So it's a beautiful thing, but a very tough thing for others to copy. They don't play with a tactical model, it's more of a common idea. Needless to say, I am very jealous of the Barca school."
Gattuso was in charge of AC Milan when his side defeated Ernesto Valverde's Barcelona 1-0 in the International Champions Cup two years ago.
Puig, who starred in Barca's US pre-season tour that year, replaced Paco Alcacer right after the break back in the day.
Gattuso is now at the helm of Napoli and Puig has an opportunity to impress the Italian once again as the Catalans host the Parthenopeans in the return leg of the Champions League last-16 stage on Saturday, August 8.
Barca drew the Serie A side 1-1 at the San Paolo in the first leg.
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