Striker Riccardo Pepe from Groningen on his way to PSV

Ricardo Pepi appears to be PSV’s first acquisition of the summer. The people of Eindhoven are on their way to bringing in the Americans. A deal with FC Augsburg for the striker, who scored 12 goals as a mercenary at FC Groningen last season, is imminent, confirm sources around both clubs in response to Fabrizio Romano’s report of an early deal.

This fee appears to have been a transfer fee of close to 10 million euros, as FC Augsburg stipulates a fixed percentage for resale.

Feyenoord

And it was reported on Thursday in Germany that Feyenoord were set to bid €10.5m for Pepe and would lead the dance around the talented US international. It’s true that Feyenoord also made an offer, but that was for a much smaller amount and was made some time ago. Now, PSV are in pole position to bring in Pepe and are hoping to strike a deal in the short term.

Pepi is seen as one of American football’s greatest prospects and the future offensive leader of Team USA. PSV’s technical director, Ernest Stewart, knows the guy from the Texas border town of El Paso well from his previous position as director of soccer affairs for the US Federation. Pepe comes from an immigrant family who settled in America from Mexico and she could have played for the El Tree team, but she chose the USA team. Prior to that, he has so far played fifteen international matches, in which he has scored seven times.

Moving

The upcoming PSV striker was trained by MLS club FC Dallas and made his debut in four years at the age of just 16 in a match against FC Toronto as a substitute for the Texas club. After 59 matches with FC Dallas, in which he scored sixteen goals, Pepe was sold to Bundesliga club FC Augsburg in January 2022 for €16.3 million. In southern Germany, the striker did not score for the first half of the season, after which the striker was leased to FC Groningen. Despite a dismal last place and relegation with Groningen, Pepe has managed to put himself in the spotlight at PSV, who consider him the striker who should ensure productivity in the coming years. As a mobile number 9, Pepi fits well with the football that new coach Peter Bosz wants to play.