FC Dallas and United States men’s national team striker Ricardo Pepi has once again gone to the club to try and push through a transfer to Europe, a source told CBS Sports on Monday. The 18-year-old did the same earlier this year in the effort to facilitate a move before the start of the next MLS season. A source told CBS Sports that offers surpassing $13.5 million have come in for Pepi, but FC Dallas won’t budge just yet.
CBS Sports learned Monday that Spanish club Atletico Madrid have shown interest in the player and even held meetings Clubs like Ajax, Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and Liverpool have also been linked to Pepi. It’s unclear at this time what clubs have tabled the highest offers. Pepi — who was a breakout star for the USMNT earlier this year in World Cup qualifying — already agreed to terms with German club Wolfsburg, bought the team hasn’t reached a deal with FC Dallas.
Back in October, CBS Sports reported FC Dallas would prefer to sell after the 2022 World Cup, where they feel his value could be at its highest. The belief is that an offer of around $12-15 million would be needed to convince the team to sell, though that could be a tad flexible now that Pepi has said he wants to leave.
CBS Sports will have more on this story as it develops.