Ricardo Pepi at PSV Eindhoven

Ajax would be great. He’s just 18 and needs development, and Ajax would get him that in a way that’s not as pressure filled, or as uncertain as being in a loan army for a big club or being sinking or swimming in a mid table to low table club

 

Inter has always treated their youngsters well. They make sure to loan them where they'll play. They may end up getting sold and not be Juve long term but if br confident in saying Pepi would st least nor ride pine if Juve bought him

 

I would have liked Pepi to Ajax, if not for the Haller signing. Now Pepi would be a backup for years, playing most his games in the Dutch league.

If he's going to be a backup, it should be for a bigger club in a stronger league, like Dortmund or Bayern. There's more upside that way, while he still gets service, and reasonable expectations for his current level of development.

We don't have to treat all our players with kid gloves coming from MLS, just like we don't need to with all our academy guys with Euro passports making the transfer before 18. They're not all created equal. It would have been inappropriate if Gio & CP had went to Genk. They were ready to be regs for BVB soon after their arrival, at 16-17 yrs old.

Certainly Pepi, w/ experience at a much higher level than them, and at 18-19 years old, can be ready to be a regular at a bigger club who is amenable to integrate youth and Americans. Pepi's not much worse of a prospect than they were.

 

I'm thinking if Ajax is spending the type of money Pepi will go for, they must imagine Haller isn't going to be around too much longer. He's tearing it up and may want to try for a top league again. There are also 50 or so matches to go around, so I don't think it's the end of the world. Still would prefer a more immediate playing time role though

 

I would assume Ajax will try and flip Haller, if not this winter then this summer.

They paid 26 mill for him, which is a lot for Ajax, and he's 27 so the window to optimize a return for him is pretty soon. If they advance to the UCL knockout stage, they may wait to the summer so at most Pepi would back him up for a half a season.

 

Let him make this year-long transition behind Haaland at Dortmund. We can also speculate, without knowing, Haaland won't be at BVB beyond this season, or at the latest, next, because the club could get 100m, if they don't wait til near the end of his contract.

Worst case scenario, Pepi can still rotate, get service, and prove himself in around 1k BL minutes. Sufficient for his current ability-level, and proof for the NT, as well as other prospective buying clubs.

It's a route that has higher upside and lower downside than Ajax. Ajax would be better than going to a big club in EPL where he could end up getting buried, but there are still a lot of better options, many in the BL.

 

Has any source linked him to Dortmund yet so far?

 

We just did.
The smartest soccer people on the Internet just spoke this into existence.
Now Dortmund just have to be smart enough to listen to us.

 

They still have Malen who they just bought and Moukoko. Heck Tigges isn’t old and is useful as an occasional sub. If BVB stay with 2 strikers up top I could see Pepi getting minutes. If not he’s probably be buried.

 

Yea, I forgot that's the situation at Dortmund. Malen is the problem. The other two aren't a concern. Tigges has no future there and Moukoko was a youth hype product.

I'd prefer he just take the Bayern route. They have the long-term deal with FCD to do right by their kids. And loans down from them are very appealing - see Richards.

Anyway, I don't know if the Dortmund rumors were off speculation or anything concrete.

 

It was reported that two clubs in Germany that were also in the UCL were interested in Pepi. With the natural connection between Bayern and Dallas one of the clubs would be Bayern. The "speculation" is that Dortmund is the other club and the fact that Dortmund does not expect to keep Haaland after this season.

 

Ricardo Pepi…. #13. What a season pic.twitter.com/OvJVTI8BFp

— Brian Sciaretta (@BrianSciaretta) September 30, 2021

 

He looks very offside but that's a nice run and goal

 

Slowed down the video. Unless the camera angle is too far off, he is definitely off. Good finish though.

 

🚨 Ricardo Pepi update

- #UCL Bundesliga club say they're willing to do "everything possible" to get Pepi 🇩🇪

- Ajax talks still set to begin "imminently" 🇳🇱

- Serie A club to lodge an opening bid in the coming days 🇮🇹

Report 👇 @90min_Football #USMNThttps://t.co/wqBGpVcqPZ

— Chris Smith (@Chris_SXI) October 1, 2021

 

I like the wording from the unknown BL Team... makes me think it is possible he goes there and starts early on. AJAX would be cool but would he get minutes? Haller already has 10 goals in all comps this season. That is in less than 800 minutes. Pretty legit. Priority one is playing time.

 

how dare you put forward the least sexy option

 

Right said, Phred!

 

Would that be a good destination for him?

 

It would be a great spot for him if Weghorst departs. Wolfsburg plays a very enjoyable brand of football and it relies pretty heavily on a quality 9.

 

Thanks. Better than go to Bayern and taking something like Richards' path? How valuable woud be learning from Lewa whom Pepi is more similar than to Woghurst? Or minutes are more important?

 

The issue there is that most teams (including Bayern) only play one striker, and they don’t rotate strikers much.


At center back, you have two spots, and for whatever reason, it seems like a more injury-prone position than striker.

Pepi needs to go somewhere that he’s going to get a legit crack at starting relatively quickly. If Bayern buys him with real plans of having him replace Lewandowski within a couple years, that would be great. But if they buy him because he’s cheap, and they’re still ready to shell out big money on a young European striker, then I’d rather see him go somewhere like Wolfsburg. For them, 12-15 million dollars is a pretty big investment. And they’re going to give a guy a lot of room to prove himself. Kind of like spending a top draft pick on a quarterback.

 

Wolfsburg is correct!

Wolfsburg want Ricardo Pepi - #Bayern, Ajax & #Sampdoria also interested in #USMNT star

Updated story for @Transfermarkt https://t.co/9pxPAvJmdc

— Manuel Veth (@ManuelVeth) October 5, 2021