- Pepi has completed move to PSV
- Beasley excited to see striker develop in Eredivisie
- Ex-USMNT star played in Champions League semifinals with PSV
WHAT HAPPENED? Pepi completed his move to PSV on Friday, moving up the ladder of the Dutch league after scoring 12 goals while on loan at Groningen last season. The transfer sees him join Beasley's former club, where he reached a Champions League semifinal during a spell with PSV that lasted between 2004-07. After a difficult spell at Augsburg, the loan to the Netherlands helped reignite Pepi's career, vaulting him back into the USMNT picture. And Beasley believes that PSV, and the Eredivisie in general, is a great place for Pepi, or any other young attacker, to develop their game.
WHAT THEY SAID: "Speaking about Ricardo, you see how he's grown just with scoring goals and getting bigger as well," Beasley told GOAL. "If he wants to stay in Holland, I think that's a good spot for him. I'd love to see him at PSV, my old club. [Former USMNT midfielder and ex-U.S. Soccer sporting director] Earnie Stewart is there, and he'll help him settle in very quickly. I think Holland is a great place for young players that want to go over and shine in Europe."
Beasley continued: "I've said this a million times: any young player that has a chance to go to Holland and play, you don't have to go to a big team, but there are some great clubs in Holland. They all love to play. They like attacking players, exciting players. They let you go one-on-one.
"They teach you and help you understand how to play football. It's not just 'Oh, you score goals or beat a player one-on-one', but also what are your responsibilities that you have in the game? Off the field discipline, responsibility. I remember when I was at PSV and Guus Hiddink was the coach, and I'm on the other side of the field, this is during the game, and my shirt got untucked, and he yells at me across the field! 'Beasley! Beasley!' I thought he was saying: 'Push up here or go press here', but he was yelling: 'Tuck in your shirt!'. I was like 'huh'? Little things like that, it teaches you so much more than the game.
"Discipline and responsibility, that's such an important part of being a professional and how to be a pro, a real pro. I think Holland did that for me and it can do that for a lot of people."
THE BIGGER PICTURE: Pepi will join a PSV team that finished second in the league last season, sealing a place in Champions League qualifiers. They remain a top side in the Eredivisie, as well as one of the best talent developers in a country known for doing exactly that. Pepi's development will be big for the USMNT, despite the recent arrival of Folarin Balogun, as the former FC Dallas star could still make a major impact as a No.9 on the road to the 2026 World Cup and beyond.
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WHAT NEXT FOR PEPI? The striker will join up with his teammates on Monday, with the club's pre-season already underway ahead of their Champions League campaign, which begins on August 8/9.
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