Borussia Dortmund reportedly seek to sign PSV’s Ricardo Pepi | OneFootball

As we’ve come to see over the last few transfer windows, Borussia Dortmund has a taste for attacking players. The striker position in particular underwent immense restructuring this past summer, with Dortmund seeing Niclas Füllkrug, Sébastien Haller and Youssoufa Moukoko all making way for Serhou Guirassy and Maximilian Beier to join the club.

For the most part, this restructuring, while perhaps viewed with raised eyebrows initially, has led to Guirassy flourishing and maintaining the prolific form he displayed at Stuttgart, in extension providing his new club with a profile of striker that Dortmund haven’t had since Erling Haaland’s departure. Beier, for his part, has been versatile and played both up top as well as out wide, but is still taking his time to settle in.

Despite this restructuring, media reports seem to claim that Dortmund may look to add yet another player capable of playing as a center-forward to their ranks with PSV Eindhoven’s Ricardo Pepi reportedly on the club’s radar. Pepi currently has 7 goals and 1 assist in 15 appearances for PSV this season, with the player excelling in the Eredivisie over the last couple of seasons. The former Augsburg player has also not only caught BVB’s attention, but Bayern’s as well.

The question then is, how likely are these reports? At face value, they make no sense considering Dortmund already has two very capable players to fill that role. The restructuring over the summer should have set Dortmund up for the foreseeable future in this vein.

The report becomes a bit more interesting however when one considers that wantaway Dutchman Donyell Malen has been reported to be able to leave this winter for a reasonable offer. If Malen does leave, this creates a void out wide, which head coach Nuri Şahin could look to fill with Beier on a more permanent basis. This sort of shift could make room for a player like Pepi.

The follow-up question to such a scenario is, would the move benefit either the club or player? Pepi struggled during his time with Augsburg after joining from FC Dallas in the MLS in January of 2022. He was subsequently allowed to leave just six months later to join Eredivisie side FC Groningen, where he re-established himself and caught PSV's eye in turn. That being said, his record within the Eredivisie shows growth, and could possibly indicate that he is ready for a move to a more competitive league.

While this is purely speculation at this time, there is a scenario, surprisingly (or unsurprisingly, depending on how you look at the situation) enough where Dortmund look to dip into the market for a new striker. What is clear however is that such a move away for one of BVB’s current crop would have to take place to create room for Pepi or any other player to join and for that addition to remotely make sense.