Have you been watching Joaquín Pereyra this season? I watch this team for a living, and I can hardly take my eyes off the guy. He’s a visionary and a technician, a revelation and a conduit. No matter how you describe his play this season, Pereyra has been getting better every matchday, and it’s time that the league took notice. After what was, to this writer, a fantastic showing in the first half against Toronto, I simply couldn’t write about anything else in this week’s Storylines.

No, he’s not quite the flashy Argentinian number 10 that teams across the league have signed in the past (looking at you, Lucho, maybe that guy in Miami, and an old friend of ours). While it isn’t out of the question for him to score a few goals before the season ends, Pereyra’s primary skill set lies in his pure creative ability, opening the pitch and dictating the flow of play like he’s conducting a symphony. And, with four assists to his name already in just eight games this year, what a beautiful symphony it is.

He links play with seemingly effortless movement, and as he drifts, you can see the influence of his past playing experience. With time spent on the left and in the middle, Pereyra has slotted nicely into a hybrid role for the Loons, taking wide space as he feels the need and drifting back inside when the game calls for an extra man alongside Wil Trapp. His relationship with left wingback Joseph Rosales continues to grow, making the left side of the Loons attack incredibly dynamic, creative, and difficult to stop.

Without the ball, Pereyra has shown a real desire to get involved in the defensive side of the game as well. He rejoins the rest of his midfield trio as the team sets up in a mid-block, with a tendency to remain on the left side of the pitch. However, I’ve seen him cover extra space more than once as he’s called upon: not something you see every day from such a gifted playmaker.

Most impressive of all, perhaps, is the way in which his game is built on teamwork and understanding. The better he gets to know his teammates, the better he looks on the field. His remarkable passing ability might even prompt the Vikings to take a look, and if they let him use his feet, I reckon he’d give any NFL quarterback a run for their money. He can take wide space to serve in an inch-perfect cross, or he can cut through the middle with incisive passing and movement, nullifying the defense and giving his strikers plenty of joy.

As Pereyra has grown into this squad, his influence has reshaped the way the Loons play. He leads the team in touches this season with 396 in 551 minutes played, he’s third on the team in goal contributions (behind only Tani Oluwaseyi and Kelvin Yeboah), and he’s completed the most passes in the squad (231). When the Loons have the ball, Pereyra has the ball.

The Toronto match saw the Black and Blue maintain more possession than normal, and in the first half at least, Pereyra’s creativity was clearly the best option for the visitors to break the deadlock. Against teams that are solid in the air and effective at stopping set pieces, a player like Pereyra is invaluable, as he can unlock spaces and keep opposing defenses on edge as long as he’s on the field. With another team that tends to come out on the lower end of the possession scale up next, getting the ball to Pereyra’s feet against Dallas might be the key to three points.

One way or another, Minnesota United’s season is going to hinge, in large part, on the play of their midfield maestro. And after watching Pereyra’s performances continue to get better and better through eight games, I’m feeling pretty good about what that means for 2025.