Rokas Pukštas: Hajduk Split’s Diamond in the Rough
Club: Hajduk Split
Nationality: USA
Position: CM, AM, RM, DM, RB, LB
Preferred Foot: Right
Height: 5’11”/181cm
Age: 20
Strengths: versatility, heading, box-crashing, dribbling, carrying, duels, athlete, weak foot
Areas for Development: pass selection
Rokas Pukštas doesn’t turn 21 for another nine months, but he’s already emerged as a crucial figure in Hajduk Split’s team and a potential candidate for a maiden US Men’s National Team call-up. A Swiss army knife in midfield, Pukštas is a versatile performer who has made a smooth transition to life in Europe, and there’s reason to believe that he could be primed for a big 2025.
Born in Stillwater, Oklahoma to Lithuanian parents, Pukštas comes from an athletic family — in fact, his father, Mindaugas Pukštas, was a marathon runner who came 74th in his disciplined at the 2004 Summer Olympics. He joined Sporting Kansas City’s academy in 2018 and spent two years honing his talents — during which he had a trial at Manchester United — before moving to Arizona in January 2020 and taking his talents to the Barça Residency Academy.
Pukštas was a regular starter for Barcelona’s youth sides and quickly attracted attention from a host of different clubs. He made the move across the Atlantic in November 2020, joining Hajduk Split’s academy, but he would have to wait until 2022 to make the step into senior football. Having cut his teeth on loan in the lower leagues with NK Solin, Pukštas has been able to emerge as a key figure for the Croatian giants with 12 goals and 5 assists in 77 appearances for Hajduk Split.
An uber-complete profile, Pukštas is a formidable ball carrier whose technical brilliance, physical stature, and box-crashing ability make him a coach’s dream. He’s a two-footed player who reads the game well, puts in clean and aggressive tackles, and whose impressive finishing have made him into an adaptable, all-round player. His instincts in and around the box are top-drawer and could very well see him emerge as a consistent goal-scoring midfielder.
Whether it’s finishes on either foot, headers, or 1v1 situations, Pukštas is a menace in the final third and is capable of arriving in the box at the right time and putting in a stellar finish. Pukštas is deceptively strong — whilst he isn’t the bulkiest, his core strength enables him to win duels more often than not. He positions his body well and distributes his center of gravity to enable him to balance himself and create more force, thus making him into a stronger ball-winner who times his interventions well.
The Hajduk Split midfielder has a small turning radius and close control, allowing him to escape the press and drive into the opponent’s half/box. Capable of wriggling out of tight spaces with his dribbling, his powerful ball-carrying enables him to progress play and lead transitions. He never relinquishes in his pressing efforts and is constantly hassling the opponent for possession, timing his slide tackles well and getting close to his opponent to beat them in physical duels.
Another area where his athleticism comes to the fore is with aerial duels. Pukštas has a great vertical jump and is able to win headers against people taller than him as well as score headed goals. The accuracy and power that he generates in his headers is equally impressive as the power that he generates in his legs to jump so high and meet the trajectory of the ball.
However, perhaps Pukštas’ strongest asset is his box-crashing ability. His movement in the box and awareness of the space is reminiscent of a veteran poacher, and with the ability to finish on either foot, he’s a player who constantly keeps the opponent guessing. What’s more, his subtle movements enable him to create space for himself and give him the opportunity to finish chances with composure and finesse.
If there is one area where he needs to improve, it’s his pass selection. He isn’t the type to control games with his passing ability and often forces a risky pass rather than slow down the tempo with safer passes. Nevertheless, Pukštas’ versatility is up there with the very best, and it could very well see him become a jack-of-all-trades, similarly to the likes of James Milner, Pascal Groß and Fredrik Aursnes.
At the tender age of 20, he’s already played as a box-to-box midfielder, an attacking midfielder, a defensive midfielder, a right-sided forward as well as both fullback positions. This combination of his mentality, selflessness, ‘make-it-happen’ goal-scoring ability, versatility is impossible to ignore. He leads with his actions and does everything he can to help the team, and there’s reason to believe that he will wear the captain’s armband for club and country in the coming years.
Whilst Pukštas’ versatility has helped him become a more well-rounded player, constantly shifting between positions can be detrimental to a young player’s position, and he would do well to consistently perform as a box-crashing 8 and hone his ability as an all-action midfielder, where he can link defence and attack and blend the defensive understanding of a 6 with the creativity and goal-scoring ability of a 10. This should prevent him from becoming a “jack-of-all-trades, master of none.”
With a strong mentality, an immense work rate and an impressive adaptability, Rokas Pukštas is quickly making a name for himself at league leaders Hajduk Split, who sit atop the Croatian top-flight and who are challenging for their first league title in 20 years, and new USMNT manager Mauricio Pochettino will certainly be keeping tabs on his progress and mulling the decision to hand him a maiden call-up.
Pukštas has already represented the Stars and Stripes, making five appearances for the U-15 side in 2019 before proceeding to score two goals in 14 appearances for the U-20s, including a goal vs. New Zealand in the 2023 U-20 FIFA World Cup. And whilst he was approached by the Lithuania Football Federation to represent the senior team, it seems that he would rather bide his time and wait to play for the country where he spent his entire adolescence. If he keeps improving at this rate, it’ll be a matter of when, not if, he ends up playing for the US Men’s National Team.
By: Ben Mattinson / @Ben_Mattinson_
Featured Image: @GabFoligno / Andrea Vilchez / ISI Photos / USSF / Getty Images