Bryan Ruiz has expressed his serious displeasure at his current club situation in a way most players refrain from doing in the media.
Speaking to Argentinian newspaper La Naicon, Ruiz flat out said he’s extremely displeased to still be playing in the Championship after relegation last season.
“I am not happy at Fulham, and they know it,” Ruiz said. “I am a professional and I will fulfill my contract in the best way possible. They know that I signed here to play in the Premier League and not in the Championship. This league is not for my style of play, but I‘m stuck here.”
Those are some seriously strong words. Ruiz has wanted out since fans soured on his play earlier last season, often finding himself on the butt end of (somewhat unjust) boos and jeers at Craven Cottage. He went on loan to PSV in the Eredivisie for the second half of last season and was not around to see the club relegated from the Premier League for the first time in 10 years.
He then went on to impress at the World Cup, proving to be a creative force during Costa Rica’s surprising and entertaining run to the quarterfinals. Back at Fulham from Brazil, the 29-year-old was hoping to secure a permanent move away from Craven Cottage but could only find himself out on another loan, or so he thought.
“It seems incredible, but this is part of football.” Ruiz said when asked if it’s disappointing to play so well on the world stage and then return to the English second division. “In this situation the club decides what happens to me, and it’s complicated, but we must accept it.”
FIFA blocked a completed January loan move for Ruiz to Spanish side Levante on Deadline Day, saying that paperwork arrived too late. Levante president Francisco Catalan was furious with Fulham, blaming the London side for the delay and ultimately failed move. Ruiz himself said it was hard to convince Fulham – who also wanted a permanent move – to agree to a loan, but ultimately got the club to reluctantly concede.
“[Fulham] agreed to sell me, but when the loan option came they did not want it,” Ruiz explained. “At the end I talked to them and made them see that it was beneficial, and I managed to convince them, but they never wanted to accept a loan.”
“I am not sure what happened [between Fulham and Levante], I do not know if Fulham was at fault or not. Each club is responsible for sending the documentation, only they know what happened.”
Ruiz also expressed a touch of remorse for signing at Fulham in the first place. Having signed from Twente in the summer of 2011 for around $10 million, he never truly fit in, and was often described as a ruby in a world of garnets – a luxury Fulham could not afford. His flowing style of play was often blunted by the physicality of the English game, and Ruiz clearly was more comfortable on a World Cup pitch – or even one in the Netherlands – than he was on an England field.
“After four years where things have not always gone right, where the team is relegated and they force me to honor my contract, it is difficult to assess,” Ruiz said. “Maybe it was better to wait and see another option [when I signed], but hey, if I had the opportunity to see the future maybe I would have made different choices. At that time I thought it was the best option I had.”
Remorse or not, it appears Ruiz will have to finish out the season at Craven Cottage, where his contract expires at the end of the year. He also did mention the possibility of playing in Major League Soccer in the future, but said despite the rumors, “My priority is to stay in Europe until the [2018] World Cup in Russia.”
