Folarin Balogun and Ricardo Pepi: Rising Stars in European Football
Folarin Balogun and Ricardo Pepi are heading into the biggest summer of their careers with goals, price tags and expectation all rising fast – and Brad Friedel is convinced the Premier League will come calling.
From Arsenal prospect to Monaco marksman
Balogun’s story has already taken in one superclub. Born in New York but raised in London, he came through Arsenal’s academy with all the noise and pressure that brings. The first team chances, though, were scarce: just 10 competitive appearances and two goals in the Europa League before the club sent him to Reims to see what he really had.
France got the full answer. Twenty-two goals in all competitions on loan turned him from fringe prospect into a €40 million asset. Monaco paid that fee in 2023 and have just watched him deliver his most complete season yet, hitting the target 19 times across all competitions and carrying himself like a striker who belongs at the sharp end of European football.
He is no longer the kid trying to break through at Arsenal. He is the centre-forward around whom serious teams can plan.
Pepi’s rise through Europe
Pepi’s route has been different but just as sharp. He arrived in Europe at Augsburg in January 2022, a raw, ambitious forward stepping out of MLS into the unforgiving grind of the Bundesliga. The learning curve was steep. So was his improvement.
PSV saw the upside and made their move. In Eindhoven, he has not always started, but he has always threatened. Another Eredivisie title, another season of growth, and a return of 19 goals in all competitions to match Balogun’s tally. Not bad for a player still fighting his way into line-ups rather than being handed them.
He looks like a striker ready for a bigger stage. The question is what kind of club gives him that next step.
Friedel’s verdict: “Both of them could play in England”
Friedel has watched this evolution closely. Speaking to GOAL in association with MrQ, the former USMNT goalkeeper did not hesitate when asked if Balogun and Pepi can handle English football.
“Both of them could play in England for sure, depending on the size of the club,” he said.
Then came the nuance. Pepi, in Friedel’s eyes, needs the right landing spot.
“I think someone like Pepi would need to be one of the mid to lower teams. Something like Brentford, Bournemouth, Fulham. And I don’t mean that they have to finish mid-table, but they’re more mid-tier in terms of expectation and pressure.
“The teams I’ve mentioned, they’re fantastic clubs, but I think if he moved to a Manchester United or Arsenal, it would be too much for him, too quick.”
That is not a criticism of Pepi’s talent, more a recognition of rhythm and responsibility. At a club like Fulham or Brentford, he could grow into a starring role without the glare that swallows some forwards at Old Trafford or the Emirates.
Balogun, though, Friedel sees on a different shelf.
“With Balogun, I think Balogun could play at one of the big boys and deal with the perception and reality situation, because I think he would be deemed more of a seasoned player - not being disrespectful of Pepi, it’s just his history in Europe.”
Balogun has already carried the load in Ligue 1. He has handled the weight of a €40m fee and the expectation that comes with leading the line for Monaco. That matters when you walk into a Premier League dressing room where every touch is judged.
Style fits and echoes of McBride and Dempsey
Friedel’s analysis goes beyond club size. He looks at playing style, at how a striker meshes with a system. Pepi to Fulham? That, to him, makes footballing sense.
“I think Pepi was linked to Fulham, correct? And if you look at that, you see Raul Jiménez and his style and Pepi’s, they’re very similar. I think that would actually be a seamless transition.”
Then he reaches back into USMNT history for a comparison that will resonate with American fans.
“It’s almost like how Fulham had [Brian] McBride going and [Clint] Dempsey coming in. I know McBride was a little better in the air and Dempsey more on the ground, but Dempsey was still very good in the air and McBride still was too with his feet, so it’s very similar like that, the comparison of Pepi and Jimenez.”
A Premier League club with a clear role, a proven template and a track record of trusting American forwards. For Pepi, that sounds close to ideal.
Friedel does not see this as a distant possibility either.
“I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see Balogun or Pepi in England next season, and I think they could both be successful in the Premier League.”
Pochettino’s call: Balogun first, Pepi as the weapon off the bench
Before any transfer dominoes fall, there is the small matter of a home World Cup. Balogun and Pepi are not just chasing club moves; they are fighting for the No. 9 shirt when the United States step onto the biggest stage in 2026.
Asked who he would choose if he were in Mauricio Pochettino’s shoes, Friedel did not sit on the fence.
“Balogun would be my pick. If you look historically at Pochettino’s teams, he usually likes to have players who play very vertically and who are really dynamic, and that’s more of what Balogun is.”
That vertical threat, the ability to stretch defences and attack space, has always underpinned Pochettino’s best sides. Balogun fits that template.
Pepi, though, still has a crucial role in Friedel’s mind.
“And then to have the option of Pepi, who again will work really hard, but is very good in the box, good in the air, to come off the bench.”
Different tools for different problems. A relentless runner and dynamic finisher from the start; a penalty-box predator to punish tired legs late on.
The conditions will force rotation too.
“I could also see a little bit of a rotation in the group phase, because it’s also going to be very hot over here. And the players have just come off, those two especially a long season. So you could see Mauricio maybe wanting to take a different tactical approach against Paraguay and Australia.”
Opponents, climate, minutes in the legs – all of it will shape how Pochettino uses his strikers.
A warning for Turkiye – and a test of how far this generation has come
The group schedule also carries a warning label in Friedel’s mind.
“Hopefully, they have points in the bag by the time they play Turkiye. Because if they’re not careful by the time they get to Turkiye, and they have to win that match, Turkiye is a very talented possession-based team.”
That is where the margin for error vanishes. By then, the debate over Balogun or Pepi will not be about potential or transfer value. It will be about who finishes the chance that keeps a World Cup run alive.
Premier League scouts will be watching. So will the rest of Europe. Two American forwards, one home World Cup, and the possibility that by 2026-27 both are walking out at English grounds every week.
The stage is set. Now it is down to Balogun and Pepi to prove which of them can truly own it.
