he, like all tractor boys, is outstanding in his field. But talk to me when it’s time for spring planting…
4 of those 5 have come against the division's bottom 2, who have conceded 14 goals (Heracles) and 8 goals (Heerenveen) in 4 games respectively. Good for him that he's scoring but wakes us up when he's scoring against someone competitive. Until then he's done nothing worth mentioning, never mind talking about
Then he's been signed as a replacement or a backup for Plea. Given the contract they've agreed - for only one season, with an option to extend - it's more of a short-term injury replacement this season than a backup going forward. PSV are reported to have paid a mere 800k to sign him, which is a remarkable discount on the 17m he cost Monaco when they bought him from AZ. Turn his career around and PSV are laughing all the way to the bank. Fail in that, and they lose nothing more than his transfer fee and his salary for 2025-26, almost a rounding error for a club like them. A good bit of business
It’s really great that Pepi is staying with PSV over this international break. He gets to avoid injury setbacks (knock on wood) and to train with the team to cement his role as their starting forward.
Damned good movement. If he'd just jostled and wrestled with the CB he'd never have got the away because he had no space, just made a layoff to a PSV shirt. That goal is all his
This is like a carbon copy of last year. Starter bosses it, deputy comes in and gets his too. Only now he's the LdJ role. He's gonna score a heap of goals this year, again
I believe so whole heartedly in this kid. He really is the full package as a striker. I am very excited for this year now.
All the while, certain clubs in the Top 5 are struggling - badly - for goals and one or two of them are EL or even CL sides. They will have to spend and spend big on strikers in the winter window. In the admittedly unlikely event of PSV not making it past group stage, the money they would bank for Pepi could be obscene. Aston Villa would be a club to watch. I wouldn't have advised Pepi to go to West Ham for any money but Villa would be a different story: That's a relatively well-run club, in the EL/CL zone, will spend over the coming windows (plural) and has a top coach with UEFA silverware on his CV. It would be worth considering if it happens
Dream come true for Ricardo Pepi: PSV striker can finally let go after two seasons of craving. He was mostly on the bench during PSV's Champions League matches for a year and a half. Ricardo Pepi (22) was eager to show himself on the most beautiful international club stage and had to watch how Luuk de Jong fulfilled his duties. Now it's different: he's back after his injury to grab the lead role. Starting tonight against Union Saint-Gilloise.
They haven’t beaten one in the Champions League league/group/knockout phase before, but they also haven’t played any at that stage in 25 years, and have only had 4 matches of the sort in total (all Anderlecht). They did beat Zulte Waregem in the qualifying rounds in 2013.