There has been some big USMNT news today with former Stars and Stripes player Freddy Adu opening up on his career. Elsewhere on the transfer front Yunus Musah is reportedly ready to leave Valencia and Ricardo Pepi has been linked with Crystal Palace.
USMNT news: Freddy Adu opens up
Adu was the wonder kid who never really lived up to the hype surrounding him. In an interview with Charlie Davies on CBS Sports’ Morning Footy show, Adu revealed “The one thing I would have done differently would be leaving Benfica to go on loan to Monaco. That started the snowball of me having to go on loan from team to team.
“I wasn’t patient enough to stay at Benfica. On the flip side, a hug like (Angel) Di Maria who was with me at Benfica decided to stay. A new coach came in, he played and he ends up at Real Madrid.”
We will never know what might have happened in Adu’s career if he had stayed at Benfica but the interview showed that the man is content with what he achieved in the game.
USMNT news: Yunus Musah ready to move on
Valencia is currently in 18th place in La Liga, which is in the relegation zone. Therefore, it is no surprise that Yunus Musah is ready to move on from the club. 90min has reported that “he is now ready to move on from Valencia.”
The article also listed teams that could be possible destinations for Musah. These included Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Newcastle and Brighton in the Premier League. Also mentioned were teams across Europe which included Atletico Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, Eintracht Frankfurt and Wolfsburg.
A move back to Arsenal where Musah spent seven years with their youth team could be tempting for Musah. The Gunners currently lead the Premier League but they have also been linked with signing another midfielder, West Ham United’s Declan Rice. Musah must ensure he is playing first-team soccer at his next club. A move to a club like Liverpool might be better as the Reds have recently ruled themselves out of signing Jude Bellingham from Dortmund.
USMNT news: Ricardo Pepi to Crystal Palace
There has been a lot of speculation on Ricardo Pepi’s future recently. The player who is currently on loan at FC Groningen has been linked with other clubs in the Netherlands, Feyenoord and PSV Eindhoven.
Pepi has scored 11 goals in 24 games in the Eredivisie for Groningen this season so it might be a good time to test himself at a higher level. The German website Sport Bild has reported that Crystal Palace “have interest” in Pepi and his parent club Augsburg is willing to let him go for €16M.
Palace might be a good club for the USMNT forward. They are now up to 12 in the Premier League after Roy Hodgson came in to replace Patrick Vieira and they have now won their last three games. We do not know who will be Palace’s next permanent manager but they look set to still be playing top-flight soccer now.
