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Promising United States striker Ricardo Pepi has joined Augsburg from FC Dallas for a reported €18million ($20m) fee plus add ons.
Pepi, 18, impressed for Dallas in the 2021 season as he scored 13 times in MLS – the joint-most ever managed by a teenager in the competition.
The forward is also the youngest player to ever score in consecutive World Cup qualifiers for the USA and has previously been linked to some of Europe’s top clubs, such as Borussia Dortmund and Ajax.
But Pepi has opted to move to Augsburg, who have signed the talented teenager on a five-and-a-half-year contract, while holding the option to extend for a further year.
The transfer represents a club-record deal for Dallas as Pepi dethrones Alphonso Davies’ move from Vancouver Whitecaps to Bayern Munich in 2018 as the most expensive outgoing homegrown player from MLS.
Upon confirmation of the deal on Monday, Pepi said: “Moving to Europe after the conclusion of the MLS season was my dream.
“I believe FC Augsburg and the Bundesliga will prove the perfect settings for me to gain match practice at the top level as a youngster.
“The efforts the FCA [Augsburg] club officials put in to sign me were really impressive. As a result, I felt right away that FCA was the right club for me.
“I can’t wait to meet my new teammates and I want to integrate into the team as quickly as possible. I can hardly wait to get going!”
Augsburg sit just a point above the relegation zone in the German top flight before they restart their Bundesliga campaign with a trip to Hoffenheim on Saturday.
