Ricardo Pepi is on the verge of a blockbuster transfer to German Bundesliga side Augsburg for a $20m price plus add ons.
The deal is turning heads as the suggested fee might mark a brand new record for highest price paid for an American Major League Soccer player on account that Villarreal signed Jozy Altifore for $10m in 2008.
The transfer would additionally stand as the second-biggest price ever paid for a MLS athlete, simplest behind Miguel Almiron’s $27m circulate to Newcastle United in 2019.
Additionally, the signing might shatter the Bundesliga crew’s transfer file.
But how is it that Augsburg swooped in to secure the participant after teams like Bayern Munich, Ajax and Wolfsburg were in the result in land Pepi?
The crew is presently sitting in 15th place on the Bundesliga desk, simply one factor faraway from a relegation spot. No modern-day player at the roster has extra than three desires this season, prevailing handiest 4 video games in 17 and forcing a goal difference of bad 9.
The move is believed to be spearheaded by way of Augsburg minority proprietor and American investor David Blitzer, who reportedly bought a forty five-percentage stake within the club and could fund the Pepi deal.
This wouldn’t be the primary time we see an American membership proprietor desire it’s North American counterpart at some stage in a transfer window.
Venezia FC owner and membership president Duncan Niederauer made headlines in 2021 through signing Gianluca Busio to the Italian membership. Like Pepi, Busio changed into reportedly linked to pinnacle clubs in Europe before finally becoming a member of USMNT teammate Tanner Tessman at the Serie A roster.
Former FC Dallas participant Bryan Reynolds had a comparable trajectory in early 2021. He was linked with Juventus and AC Milan before making the flow to American owned AS Roma for a franchise-report fee.
