Official | USMNT forward Ricardo Pepi joins PSV | OneFootball

USMNT and Augsburg forward Ricardo Pepi (20) has joined Eredivisie club PSV for a reported €9m. The American has put pen-to-paper on a five-year deal keeping him at the club until 2028 following an impressive loan spell at Groningen last season.

“I am incredibly happy and excited to be here,” Pepi told the club’s official channels. “I believe this is the right step for my career. PSV is a club with great ambitions, and I share the same desire to win trophies. I am a hardworking player who is willing to put in the dirty work. I prefer to have the ball close to the goal because that’s when I can score goals.”

Pepi spent last season on loan at Groningen where he scored 13 and created three in 31 games across all competitions. This came after the American forward joined Augsburg from Dallas in January 2022 for €16m, but failed to score in 16 games (579 minutes) which resulted in a loan move to Groningen that summer.

As reported last month, Feyenoord had also shown an interest in signing Pepi but didn’t move forward with their interest, and it appeared that Augsburg were willing to let the player leave the first moment when hearing about interest in Pepi.

Although losing Pepi for less than Augsburg paid for him, the Fuggerstädter have secured a 20 percent sell-on clause so the Bundesliga club may still recoup the €16m that they paid for him in 2022.

GGFN | Daniel Pinder