FC Augsburg: Return for Ricardo Pepi “not an option” – heavy criticism

Berisha option to be drawn

“We are planning with him and have no intention of giving him up,” said FCA manager Stefan Reuter recently with a view to Ricardo Pepi, who was loaned to FC Groningen, and coach Enrico Maaßen emphasized: “We’ll be happy if he comes back soon.” The crux: The 20-year-old US national player, who cost Augsburg the record transfer fee of around 16 million euros in January 2022 and is thriving in the Eredivisie, sees things very differently.

“It’s clear to me: I don’t want to go back to Augsburg. I have already informed the club about this. I was promised things that were not kept. Then it’s very simple: Then you have to look for another club,” said Pepi in an interview with “Voetbal International“. “The thing is clear to me: because of the way they treated me, a return to Augsburg is not an option.”

Agent Jaime Garcia Ramos echoed the words of his protégé, who has scored eleven goals in Groningen in 24 appearances to date and is said to have aroused the interest of top teams PSV Eindhoven and Feyenoord Rotterdam. Pepi is under contract in Augsburg until 2026, and for the coming season FCA now has four more center forwards in the squad alongside him.

“We appreciate the investment the club has made. But once there, it seemed like they didn’t know how to handle such an investment. The coach didn’t speak to him, the director wanted him so much that he didn’t come to an appointment with Ricardo twice,” said Garcia Ramos and also made it clear: “Pepi isn’t going back to Augsburg.”

Pepi doesn’t want to, but Berisha should stay at FC Augsburg

FC Augsburg has meanwhile reaffirmed that they want to take the buy option from attacker Mergim Berisha (24), who has just been promoted to international. “I’m pretty sure we’ll sign him. We want to take the next step together with Mergim,” said coach Maassen on Sunday on the TV station “Bild”. The option to buy Berisha, who is on loan from Fenerbahce, is said to be around €4m.

With nine goals, Berisha is Augsburg’s top scorer this season. In the international matches against Peru and Belgium, the 24-year-old made his debut for the DFB team in March. “I am very happy with how Mergim has developed. But I think there’s still a lot that can be done in terms of development,” said Maassen, praising the “outstanding finishing qualities” of his centre-forward.

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