Ricardo Pepi won’t be playing in Major League Soccer for much longer. The 18-year-old American phenom has requested a transfer from FC Dallas and is being eyed up by some of Europe’s biggest clubs. In an interview with 90 Minute Football, Pepi revealed that his dream is to play for Real Madrid. That begs the question; has an American played for Real Madrid?
"Pepi" on the back of a Real Madrid shirt has a nice ring to it.
I had the chance to catch up with @Ricardo_Pepi9 about his career ambitions, how he chose @USMNT & more. This week's on @90min_FootballFull episode: https://t.co/jTPYBIS8Xw pic.twitter.com/sw6O0rlFkq
— Yael Averbuch West (@Yael_Averbuch) October 29, 2021
No USMNT player has ever had the honor of playing for Los Blancos. The closest that an American has gotten was when California-native Joshua Pynadath played for Real Madrid’s youth program in 2013.
Pepi most likely won’t be headiing to Madrid in the upcoming winter transfer window. However, he has received interest from a plethora of top European clubs.
Clubs Reportedly Interested In Ricardo Pepi
- Wolfsburg
- Borussia Dortmund
- Bayern Munich
- Liverpool
- Manchester United
- Inter Milan
- Genoa
- Ajax
Yesterday's encounter was a no contest, but report claims Liverpool are set to battle Manchester United for Ricardo Pepi
— Liverpool FC News (@LivEchoLFC) October 25, 2021
18-year-old USMNT forward Ricardo Pepi has asked to leave FC Dallas.
He’s agreed to personal terms with Wolfsburg, but Ajax, Bayern, Dortmund, Inter and Liverpool are among other clubs chasing, per @RGonzalezCBS pic.twitter.com/hRa5JFjmgG— B/R Football (@brfootball) October 19, 2021
The FC Dallas youth academy has once again produced a talent ready to take on the best in the world. Other big American names that have come through FC Dallas’ youth program include Weston McKennie (Juventus), Chris Richards (Hoffenheim), Reggie Cannon (Boavista), Tanner Tessmann (Venezia), Shaq Moore (CD Tenerife) and Bryan Reynolds (AS Roma).
Pepi hopes to spend several seasons with Real Madrid in the future. The club’s main striker, Karim Benzema, is 33 years old now. Fast forward five years and USMNT fans could be the proud owners of a No. 9 Real Madrid Pepi jersey.
