Why Sergino Dest ended up at PSV despite wanting ‘bigger club’ & saying ‘no’ to transfer on several occasions – with former USMNT star making move happen

The United States international defender was informed in the summer of 2023 that he was surplus to requirements at Barcelona. He spent the 2022-23 campaign on loan at Serie A giants AC Milan and made a name for himself while on the books of Eredivisie heavyweights Ajax.

Dest was looking for another marquee team when heading for the exits at Camp Nou, but was talked into a loan return to his native Netherlands by ex-USMNT forward Earnie Stewart - who is now director of football at PSV having left a similar role in the U.S. camp. Dest has told the Men In Blazers podcast of how Stewart get him to Eindhoven: “He was consistent, he didn’t stop. After a couple of times that we said ‘no, no, no’, he didn’t stop. He kept trying to find ways to make it happen. After a while you starting thinking ‘this might be what I need at this moment in my career’. Obviously when you have been at bigger clubs you don’t want to go down to a club that is in a lesser division. This is still a really great, nice club, but after AC Milan and Barcelona, you want to stay at that level. But I didn’t play for six months, so I didn’t really have the choice. I had no other option that to just do it and prove everybody wrong and show them again.”

Pressed on what he was looking for from a switch in 2023, having struggled for game time at Milan, Dest added: “I needed a coach that believes in him and wanted to go give me minutes. I needed to play. That’s the only way I can show myself and prove people wrong. I needed a warm environment, honest people around me. I knew Earnie already from a couple of years ago and it felt good. It wasn’t only Earnie, even the coach started texting and calling me. Then, [PSV president] Marcel Brands started texting and calling me. I thought ‘wait, we’re going to play Champions League with this team, we are going to be champions’. I thought ‘okay, if I’m going on loan these are the things I needed, so why not?’"

Dest has started to rebuild his reputation with PSV, becoming a regular under head coach Peter Bosz, and is likely to complete a permanent transfer away from Barcelona in 2024. He also has international action to look forward to this year, with the USMNT readying themselves for CONCACAF and Copa America competition.