Sources: Premier League interest in USMNT star Ricardo Pepi remains despite injury after PSV reject Fulham’s $35m bid

GOAL can confirm that Fulham are among the teams looking to sign Pepi this January. The Premier League club is among several sides in England interested in Pepi, who commanded similar interest last summer before suffering a knee injury. 

This January, the American striker is dealing with a broken arm suffered in a recent match for his current club, PSV. The injury occurred as Pepi slid to fire home a goal in a 5-1 win over Excelsior. PSV has since confirmed that Pepi has undergone surgery and that he is expected to miss two months of matches.

Prior to the injury, Premier League clubs were already monitoring Pepi closely during the January window, and that interest has continued despite the expectation that he would not be available until March. Fabrizio Romano first reported that clubs remain interested despite the setback, while The Athletic previously reported that PSV rejected an initial $35 million bid from Fulham.

The Premier League interest comes after Pepi was the subject of similar discussions last January after a breakout at PSV. Sources confirmed to GOAL last year that Pepi was the subject of a $20.7M (€20M) bid from a Premier League club, although his knee injury and PSV's reluctance to sell ended any possibility of a move. Sources also confirmed that PSV rejected a loan-to-buy offer from West Ham last year.

After initially earning his Eredivisie stripes during a 13-goal loan spell at Groningen, Pepi joined PSV in 2023 in a $9.8 million transfer. He largely came off the bench for his first season-and-a-half, scoring nine goals during his first campaign with the club. However, he broke into the XI in the final months of 2024 by scoring 17 goals in all competitions before a knee injury sidelined him in January. 

After building fitness to start this season, Pepi has once again earned his place in the XI and has 11 goals in 22 appearances this season. That includes eight goals in just 716 Eredivisie minutes as well as goals against Napoli, Olympiacos, and Atletico Madrid in the Champions League, all off the bench.

With Pepi out of action, PSV will look to maintain the club's stranglehold on the Eredivisie, which they currently lead by 16 points. Pepi, meanwhile, will face a race to recover in time for the next USMNT camp, which comes in March.