When Argentine attacking midfielder Joaquin Pereyra arrived in St. Paul last September, his new club was making almost immediate calls for patience.

But even in building out a longer runway for Pereyra to take off in a new league and country, Minnesota United could have reasonably expected more than they got from Pereyra’s first stint, when he logged one assist and no goals in 588 minutes across the regular season and playoffs.

Pereyra, in fact, didn’t even play a full 90 minutes across 10 total matches in 2024.

That’s just not good enough considering Pereyra joined MNUFC as one of the club’s three Designated Players during last year’s summer transfer window.

The Loons paid Tucuman, a club in Argentine’s top flight, a transfer fee of approximately $3 million, and the 25-year-old is the team’s third-highest paid player at nearly $700,000 in guaranteed compensation, according to the MLS Players Association.

Pereyra cost more than a diamond, but MNUFC wasn’t expecting him to sparkle — at least not in first light. That is starting to come this spring.

With a pair of assists in United’s 2-1 win at New York City on Sunday, Pereyra has four primary assists in 461 total minutes, one behind a trio of MLS leaders — Miami’s Luis Suarez, San Jose’s Cristian Espinoza and Charlotte’s Pep Biel.

Instead of answering questions about why he took Pereyra off the field in the second half, head coach Eric Ramsay was pumping up Pereyra after his second 90-minute shift this season in the Loons’ victory.

“He has evolved hugely in his time with us here,” Ramsay told reporters from Yankee Stadium. “He is a very complete player now, I would say, and you could see in his performance, which was very dogged. He showed real aggression, a real willingness to stick to a game plan and level of discipline.

“He had some hard running, but he also had some great moments on the ball, and that’s what we expect of him, because he is a good player.”

Pereyra has notched all four assists over the past four games.

“I feel better, obviously. Much better than last season, like it happens with everyone, everywhere,” Pereyra said in Spanish via club translator Deasy Ramirez. “It took me a while to adapt to the league, but now I’m more comfortable than I’ve been here in a long time. I feel very good. I feel calm. And obviously, with the team, we’re trying to consolidate ourselves again to compete in the (league).”

Pereyra’s assist on Tani Oluwaseyi’s second goal against Real Salt Lake was his best yet in a Loons shirt. With his weaker right foot, Pereyra hit a long ball over the top to uncork a counter attack. Oluwaseyi sprinted underneath it and scored in the 55th minute.

Oluwaseyi called the pass “incredible,” and Pereyra’s service has helped the Canadian forward move into a second-place tie for goals scored (five) this season.

“I think we saw that quality early last year, and I think we’ve all been waiting for him to show it in games,” Oluwaseyi said after the RSL win. “You can see now, game in and game out, he has just been performing. He has been one of our best players all year and makes my life easier and creates more chances for me and Kelvin (Yeboah). So we’re just happy he’s finally finding his stride.”

When Pereyra arrived last year, Ramsay said his biggest improvement needed to come on the defensive side. That, too, has transpired.

“Without the ball, I’ve got to say, in his time here, he has really improved,” Ramsay said after RSL. “In that sense, he’s really reliable. He’s very competitive, very aggressive.”

When Ramsay subbed out Pereyra against RSL — his yellow-card booking was a catalyst for the change, Ramsay emphasized — Pereyra was not pleased.

“He didn’t want to come off on 65 minutes, and that is a sign of a player that smells blood, feels like he’s in a really good vein of form and had really good rhythm,” Ramsay said. “And it was a shame we had to disrupt that, but I think justified, all in all.”

Pereyra is still waiting to open up his goal-scoring account in MLS. It looks closer: he has 1.4 expected goals this season, compared to 0.5 last season.

“Obviously, it would be a good thing,” Pereyra said. “I’m at a point where I feel very good, physically fit, and I can help the team from my position. And, well, the goal will come when it has to. But … I’m not desperate. I’m calm.”

Briefly

The Loons’ game this month against the Vancouver Whitecaps at Allianz Field has been moved from Saturday April 26 to Sunday April 27, the team announced. Game time will be 2 p.m.