Record purchase Ricardo Pepi has clearly ruled out a return to FC Augsburg.
“I don’t want to go back to Augsburg. I let the club know that too,” said the center forward, who was loaned to FC Groningen, to the Dutch football magazine “Voetbal International”.
Things were played and promised to him that were not kept. “Because of the way they treated me, going back to Augsburg is not an option,” Pepi said without giving details.
His manager Jaime Garcia was more explicit. “We appreciate the investment the club has made. But once he was there, it seemed like they didn’t know how to deal with such an investment. The coach didn’t speak to him, the director wanted him so badly that he didn’t come to an appointment with Ricardo twice,” said Garcia and made it clear: “Pepi is not going back to Augsburg”.
The Bavarian Bundesliga club brought Pepi from Dallas to Augsburg in January 2022 for an alleged sum of 16 million euros – and loaned him to the first Dutch league in the summer.
The 20-year-old US international has scored ten goals in 22 games there so far. The young professional’s contract with FCA runs until June 30, 2026.
Pepi’s criticism of FCA should surprise those responsible in the Fuggerstadt. Most recently, both FCA manager Stefan Reuter and coach Enrico Maaßen had made positive comments about further cooperation.
“It worked out perfectly. The idea was to give him more time in a league that may not be as physically demanding as the Bundesliga, but is still technically good,” Maassen said on Thursday.