With the Pepi news, Altidore offered perspective on his decision to leave the Eredivisie for the Premier League a decade ago
U.S. international Ricardo Pepi is tearing up the scoring charts in Eredivisie, playing for a storied club at PSV, with former U.S. international Ernie Stewart running the club's soccer operation as its general manager. If it sounds familiar, it should.
Just more than a decade ago, U.S. legendary striker Jozy Altidore was doing almost the same exact thing as a leading man for AZ Alkmaar, scoring 51 goals in 67 appearances for the Dutch side between 2011-13. And the club's GM? You guessed it, Stewart.
Like many in the American soccer scene Thursday, Altidore was surprised to to see GOAL's report that an unnamed Premier League has bid for Pepi, a deal that is said to be $20.7 million. Altidore was faced with a similar decision following a dominant 2013 campaign, in which he put 31 goals in 41 appearances. The former player, who recently joined the NFL's Buffalo Bills as a part owner, was rumored to have a host of clubs chasing him the following summer - and he ultimately chose Premier League side Sunderland in a $13 million transfer.
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Hindsight is everything for the now-35-year-old.
"I would say one of my biggest regrets was not being patient and not being able to own the decision" Altidore told GOAL Friday. "It's a hard thing to do as a 22, 23-year-old, but at the time when I was at Alkmaar, I had some of the biggest clubs [in world football] that you could want to go to. But the financial differences were massive in terms of what the Premier League clubs could offer."
He added, "If I could do it over again, my gut was telling me to go to one of those bigger clubs in smaller countries. Italy, Spain, Portugal, one of those countries. Go to one of those teams and you'll go to a bigger club and from there, you'll go to the biggest clubs like the Premier League."