He's earning more playing time this year - subbing in early and the occasional start during busy stretches. I'm thinking he may overtake De Jong by next season and Bosz is certainly showing that the gap between the two is less in his eyes.
Agreed, he is being developed and integrated as a vital piece. Unless PSV deems he has a low ceiling I don't see why they would sell him so early when there is potential for a bigger money move in a year or two.
He’s getting more playing time this season. I’m good with him staying as long as PSV doesn’t have some young stud forward coming through their academy.
Teams like PSV have scouts profiling replacement players all the time. It all comes down to price. They paid 11 million to Augsburg for him. If someone offers 25 million in the simmer, they're likely to think hard about it. With add-ons it'd get done IMO .
Do any of these clubs have any interest at all in, you know, actually trying to win trophies with a roster that sticks together for years? I was going to compare clubs like PSV to day traders, but then I remember that even day traders own at least some stock they'll hold for the long term.
I think that's a good comparison. I am not entirely sure, but I don't think the money that teams earn from just being in business in Holland is as lucrative as it is in, say, England or Germany or Spain. Henceforth, the team is all for sale at the right price. It is a business after all. The romantic notion of keeping a team together to gel and make a run at the championship of the league is just that, in Holland, in my humble opinion. They would love to and somebody has to win, but be sure that every player has a price.
The problem is less that Dutch clubs don't want to keep star(let) players, and more that they don't want to spend the money required to keep them after a point. PSV would love to keep their league winning squad together as long as financially possible, but the Ered simply doesn't bring in the kind of money other leagues do (Pop of N'lands is still <20 mill. Basically the NY or LA metro have the same or slightly larger population. Try to imagine the 5 boroughs and burbs trying to finance 18 teams with a good handful of top stars on 4 or 5 of them. You have to sell a LOT of jerseys around the world to fund that kind of endeavor.
I don't get the need for Pepi to leave PSV... This seems pretty ideal to me: earn the starting job with his play throughout this season, become the starter and blow up next season, move to a big team after helping the US to the semis in 2026.
Unless LDJ falls apart soon I don't see Pepi taking over next year. It appears more like he will keep getting increased minutes. Is that enough? I guess we will have an easier time judging by how he does against Jamaica. If he's sharp then it's enough especially if even more minutes are in his near future. If not? We wait.
They paid a lot of money for Pepi. There had to be some kind of succession plan. It feels like we're watching that unfold. Unless Pepi completely bottles it, which he clearly isn't showing any signs of doing, it seems like he is on track to start next year. PSV paid 3 million for de Jong in 22/23. Transfermarkt lists that his contact runs out after this season, too. Who knows if that is completely accurate, but if it is, that is a pretty big tell for what PSV's plans are. Of course, I'm sure they would love to resign de Jong, but those negotiations would surely include conversations about his age/role/etc as they relate to Pepi's emergence. For Pepi, they paid 11 million in 23/24 with a contract that goes until 2028. It would seem that PSV would be keen on the idea of having Pepi be well known and in high demand going into the World Cup.
Jeff Carlisle entering the convo https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_...ance-shed-super-sub-label-psv-eindhoven-usmnt some stats; 23/24, 40 appearances, 674 minutes, 2 starts so far this season, 438 minutes, 3 starts
I feel like ESPN just made up this narrative and ran an entire article on it: https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_...ance-shed-super-sub-label-psv-eindhoven-usmnt I've never really heard him referred to as only a super sub. He's a young striker of good but not elite talent so of course as he moves up the ranks he's going to have times when he's "only" a super sub. Looks like @uniteo got me here. The numbers are one thing, but the perception? I just haven't seen it much.
If that article is correct, the term seems to have struck a nerve with Pepi, so there might be something more to that perception.
Pepi should stick up his middle finger to that article writer. A supersub is a player, never seen to become worthy of a first team fixed spot. Obviously that's not the case with Pepi, being brought in gradually to replace LdJ sooner or later.
LdJ played 4100 mins out of a possible ~4400 mins for PSV last season and plays no national team ball. First of all, I might be the minority here, but I don't want to see any player play 4000+ competitive minutes in a year if they don't have to. I have seen 0 evidence that a player playing 4000 minutes is "sharper" than a guy playing 2000 minutes. Second, it's unlikely LdJ reaches 4100 mins - I think it's already probably impossible, tho I've not done the math. If LdJ's minutes push down close to 2500 or so, Pepi will get near or over 2000. If LdJ rests/gets hurt more, Pepi will have a very decent number of starts. Pepi will also, given his scoring rate, have offers at the winter window and over the summer. It will depend on the who and how much and how serious of the offers whether there's any serious discussions.
Ricardo Pepi creating a fan club among opposition players 🤩🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/63AhEoNBKQ— Men in Blazers (@MenInBlazers) November 13, 2024
Liverpool are currently 'showing the strongest interest' in a potential deal for PSV Eindhoven striker Ricardo Pepi [@caughtoffside] The USA international has earned comparisons to Luis Suarez by @fbref's Similar Players model pic.twitter.com/hABag2STjO— Empire of the Kop (@empireofthekop) November 13, 2024 I'm not a Liverpool FC fan and I don't particularly follow their squad but I would imagine if getting a starting XI spot is critical for Pepi this might not be a great move for him but maybe I'm wrong.
Pepi, currently, is a pretty good counter-argument to the "must get X minutes to be sharp" narrative. Can it last? I dunno? Would he score more goals if he played more? Probably in raw numbers but his rate can't stay where it is if he plays more. EPL is much more difficult place to score, although spending a season getting acclimated with a club like Liverpool is not the worst gamble in the world, but he would have to resign himself to very possibly being an apprentice again.