PSV declines purchase option for injured USMNT star Sergiño Dest

By Doug McIntyre
Published

Days after winning the Eredivisie title for the first time in six years, Dutch champion PSV Eindhoven has decided on the futures of two of its three American players.

Bayern Munich announced on Friday that PSV had exercised its option to buy 21-year-old U.S. men's national team midfielder Malik Tillman, who spent this season on loan in the Netherlands from the German Bundesliga titans. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the release clause in Tillman's contract with Bayern, which he joined at age 12, is thought to be worth up to $14 million.

Injured USMNT standout Sergiño Dest received the opposite news, according to multiple reports, as PSV declined to turn Dest's season-long loan from Barcelona into a permanent transfer. That outcome became likely last month, when the 23-year-old suffered a torn ACL in a training session. Dest, who was expected to play a key role at right back for the U.S. at this summer's Copa América, is expected to be sidelined until early next year.

The term on Dest's contract with Barça will have less than six months remaining at that point, allowing the silky fullback to negotiate a pre-contract with any other team. A reunion with PSV is possible; even after Dest was hurt, manager Peter Bosz suggested that he'd like to keep the player, who cost Barcelona a $20 million transfer fee from PSV's Dutch rival Ajax in 2020.

USMNT striker Ricardo Pepi remains under contract with PSV, where former U.S. Soccer sporting director and (USMNT midfielder) Earnie Stewart serves as the director of football. PSV beat Sparta Rotterdam last weekend to win the Eredivisie for the first time since 2018. The club also reached the round of 16 in the UEFA Champions League this season before being eliminated by eventual finalists Borussia Dortmund.

Tillman scored nine goals in 26 league appearances for PSV this season. Pepi had seven in 25, but was used mostly off the bench behind veteran Netherlands forward Luuk de Jong. Dest started 35 games in the Eredivisie and Champions League, contributing two goals and seven assists.

Doug McIntyre is a soccer writer for FOX Sports. Before joining FOX Sports in 2021, he was a staff writer with ESPN and Yahoo Sports and he has covered United States men's and women's national teams at multiple FIFA World Cups. Follow him on Twitter @ByDougMcIntyre.