The world is full of young football talents. They grow up in the streets of São Paulo, Buenos Aires, Abuja or Belgrade, and the world is literally to their feet, so to speak.
These lads are on a mission to become the stars we will watch tomorrow. The next Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi or João Felix.
At the same time, there are beautiful projects that focus on these players, from the Guardian’s top 60 young footballers yearly plan, the unique and high-quality Scouted Football, among others.
We are not going to compete with them. However, in our work and research in BabaGol, we discover many players that don’t get the focus or the chance to showcase what they can produce.
With that in mind, we have decided to share snippets of our source of knowledge. Our shadow scout, Juan Gafas, will pop-up weekly and will put the spotlight on one player that is worth your attention. This can be viewed as a tip for all BabaGolers to meet the next Jamie Vardy and Dado Pršo, or maybe the next Gary Medel or Jorge Valdivia, a moment (or a few years) before they become famous.
Today, we take a glance at a young MLS talent:
Ricardo Pepi
Age: 16
Club: FC Dallas (USA)
Position: Forward
Nationality: USA
Market Value: €400,000 (Transfermarkt)
Why follow him? 11 goals in 13 matches for Dallas’s development team, North Texas, in the USL One, and a MLS debut at the age of 16. Eligible to play for both Mexico and USA’s international teams, he represented the latter in the recent U-17 World Cup. His coach in Dallas, Luchi Gonzalez, compared his playing style to non other than Robert Lewandowski.
Pepi had an amazing year - winning the USL One championship, signing a contract with FC Dallas, making his MLS debut and capping it off with a 2 week training period with the Bayern Munich youth team. The tall (185 cm) forward isn't merely a lethal goalscorer, also showing intelligence in his movement and good ability linking up the play. He still lacks athleticism, pace and power, but it is normal for a 16 year-old and that is likely to improve. While he looked a bit shell-shocked at his MLS debut, in the second appearance he was sent onto the pitch he almost set up twice an equalizing goal in a dramatic away match in Portland. In the third match he got involved, he was sent in with his team trailing 3-1, in order to complete a late comeback in another difficult away fixture. He still has a lot to learn and improve, but it appears he has the right attitude and I believe Dallas has a real diamond here.