PROFILE | Fabián Ruiz – from Luis Enrique’s outcast to teacher’s pet | OneFootball

The arrival of Luis Enrique did not look to be a good omen for Fabián Ruiz. The Spaniard had come off the back of a middling debut campaign at PSG when he was joined by his compatriot at the Parc des Princes. He was part of a big midfield recruitment drive as PSG (rahter blindly) threw darts at a board and saw what stuck. 

Vitinha, Carlos Soler, and Renato Sanches all joined Ruiz during the summer of 2022. None of them impressed in their debut season. Vitinha, of course, has gone on to become one of the world’s best, earning Ballon d’Or shouts from the likes of Thomas Frank and Blaise Matuidi; Sanches relapsed, suffering the kind of recurrent injuries that had derailed his career prior to that uptick at Lille OSC, which looks more and more like an anomaly; and Soler never established himself before returning to his native Spain. 

Vitinha’s luck turned when Luis Enrique came through the door. The former Spain manager has been credited with transforming the former Wolves midfielder. But you wouldn’t have thought that he would have the same effect on Ruiz.

Writing on the wall?

Luis Enrique’s appointment as manager of PSG came just 18 months after a World Cup in which he left Ruiz out of his Spain squad. The latter was part of the former’s squad for the Euros in 2021, however, reports emerged that the pair had a disagreement after La Roja’s elimination. Ruiz has denied this, but the truth of the matter is that, thereafter, he was not picked by Luis Enrique. His omission continued at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, after which Luis Enrique left his post. Ruiz then returned following the appointment of Luis de la Fuente. 

You wouldn’t have blamed Ruiz for thinking that the writing was on the wall when he was joined by Luis Enrique in the French capital. There was a manager in place who had previously cast him aside and his unspectacular debut campaign didn’t lend itself to playing a more prominent role going forward. And then you add to that the emergence of Warren Zaire-Emery, a pépite, a Titi. He emerged during the latter half of the previous season and was heralded as the next big thing in French football. His emergence further hampered Ruiz’s attempts to establish himself in the setup. At that point, he was competing with PSG’s new poster-boy, the face of the evolving, increasingly youthful, increasingly local project. 

Ruiz didn’t have the cards but he nonetheless has played an excellent hand. To general surprise, he quickly curried favour with Luis Enrique. “It was an error not to call him up for the 2022 World Cup,” the PSG manager has since admitted. 

Luis Enrique decides Ruiz is the man for the big occasion

He defended Ruiz throughout the 2023/24 season, even despite his lack of impact in big matches. Pundits in France had made up their mind about the Spain international, fixing a limit on his abilities – good enough in Ligue 1, but not good enough for the Champions League. Despite that, he made nine appearances (including seven starts) in the latter competition, registering two assists in that time. 

In fact, Luis Enrique decided that the former Napoli midfielder was the man for the big occasion, as he only made 14 starts over the course of the Ligue 1 season that year. He had a base to work from, and after a spectacular Euro 2024 campaign with La Roja, during which he was arguably the player of the tournament as Spain lifted the trophy, he built on that base. 

He became an ever-present. From 35 appearances across all competitions in 2023/24, he made an astonishing 61 appearances across all competitions last season. He was involved in all 17 of PSG’s Champions League games, starting 14 as he asserted himself as a first-choice pick alongside Vitinha and Joao Neves. Together, they formed the best midfield in the world last season – and by some margin – and whilst due to their play-style and age profiles, the Portuguese duo garner much of the credit, Ruiz was certainly no less influential and no less important.

His numbers don’t leap off the page, but that is because he is very much a metronome, a player who is crucial to the circulation of the ball in a side that like to dominate possession and territory. He is a player that is always available and always looking to be positive when he does get on the ball, keen to break through lines that, in Ligue 1, are often very tight and compact. He doesn’t have the zip of Vitinha and Neves who are quite frantic movers. He instead glides around with elegance and at 29, he is the elder statesman in that midfield, and he acts like it.

Metronome Ruiz ‘brings the balance’

“He doesn’t have the profile of a French player who goes into the duels, who flourishes in the fight. He is an astute player. As soon as he plays and plays well, our team is difficult to destabilise. When we are attacking, he sets the tone, when we are defending, he is already preparing [the next] attack,” a source at PSG told L’Équipe.

“He is a metronome. Vitinha sets the tempo, Fabián [brings] the balance,” added the source. It is certainly true that, when Ruiz plays well, PSG play well. Between May 2023 and April 2025, he played 51 games for the club without losing; he is indispensable for club and for country. For the latter, he is 41 games unbeaten (the loss against Portugal in the Nations League in June came on penalties).

In 2022, Ruiz was out of the picture for Spain, in 2023, his PSG future looked bleak; in 2024, he lifted the Euros trophy with Spain; in 2025, he lifted the Champions League trophy with PSG. It has been quite the turnaround for Ruiz, now indispensable for club and country.

GFFN | Luke Entwistle