Crystal Palace look set to miss out on £17 million USA striker Ricardo Pepi with Fabrizio Romano reporting that a move to Eredivisie giants PSV Eindhoven is now imminent.
The prospect of Ebere Eze, Michael Olise and Wilfried Zaha providing ammunition for one of Jean-Philippe Mateta or Odsonne Edouard at Selhurst Park next season almost feels like Quentin Tarantino writing dialogue for Kevin James.
The silver service provided by Crystal Palace’s array of highly-talented playmakers is wasted on their less-than-reliable centre-forwards. After an impressive end to last season under Roy Hodgson, an upgrade in the number nine role feels like the biggest obstacle standing between Palace’s way of challenging for a top-half finish.
Whether 20-year-old Ricardo Pepi was really the player capable of taking the South London side to another level is anyone’s guess. It’s a rather moot point now anyway; Fabrizio Romano reporting that Pepi will stay in the Netherlands after scoring 12 goals in 28 starts during a fine loan spell at relegated Groningen last term.
Crystal Palace miss out on PSV-bound Ricardo Pepi
PSV, Romano explains, are ‘a matter of hours’ away from confirming Pepi’s arrival from Bundesliga outfit FC Augsburg.
“PSV and Augsburg are on the verge of reaching an agreement for Ricardo Pepi,” he wrote earlier in the weekend.
“Personal terms agreement has to follow, and then the deal will be done with Dutch side. ‘Here we go’ expected in the next 24 hours.”
According to BILD, Crystal Palace had initially shown an interest in Pepi; the Texas-born American international who had caught the eye of Liverpool during his formative years at FC Dallas.
Pepi models his game on that of Robert Lewandowski. He struggled to emulate the Bayern Munich legends’ impact on Bundesliga soil, however, after joining Augsburg for a club-record £17 million fee back in January 2022.
A move to PSV – expected to challenge for Eredivisie glory in 2023 – could see Pepi rediscover the form that once made him arguably the most coveted young attacker in North America.
A move to PSV – expected to challenge for Eredivisie glory in 2023 – could see Pepi rediscover the form that once made him arguably the most coveted young attacker in North America.
Crystal Palace, meanwhile, are still hoping to tie Zaha down to a new deal. The likes of Matheus Franca of Flamengo and Genk talisman Mike Tresor are potential replacements.
