Richie Ledezma finished the last Dutch Eredivisie season in promising fashion, scoring his first goal for PSV and looking poised to earn regular minutes with his former coach — Ruud Van Nistelrooy— taking over as first-team manager heading into the new season.
Now it looks more like Ledezma will need to make a move to earn regular minutes, and multiple clubs have emerged as potential loan destinations, with Dutch outlet ED reporting on Friday that Dutch side Vitesse Arnhem is interested, as are multiple German clubs.
Ledezma was limited to 13 combined appearances for PSV’s first and second teams last season due to a torn ACL. The 21-year-old made five appearances for PSV last season, scoring his first senior goal in a 2-1 season finale win over PEC Zwolle.
German Bundesliga side Mainz was mentioned as also being interested, along with German second-division side Fortuna Dusseldorf.
A former product of the Real Salt Lake academy, Ledezma has earned one cap with the U.S. men’s national team. Ledezma debuted for the USMNT in a 6-2 friendly win over Panama in November 2020, registering two assists.
Ledezma is also eligible to represent Mexico, with reports emerging earlier this year claiming he was considering a change of association. Sources tell SBI that Ledezma has no plans on switching to Mexico, though the option is still there due to him not being cap-tied yet.
Vitesse Arnhem finished in sixth place last season, missing out on European qualification. Ledezma would be the first American to play for Vitesse since Matt Miazga enjoyed a successful two-season loan stint there, winning a Dutch Cup title in 2017.
Either Mainz or Vitesse. Go to the club that will play you more. He is my dark horse to make the 2022 WC.
“dark horse to make the 2022 WC”
I’d love that.
But that will only happen if Roldan, Gio or LDLT don’t go.
As long as Gio and LDLT are healthy and getting minutes then both will be on the plane. I could see Ledezma supplant Roldan. Berhalter wanted Ledezma in this past window in June. But both agreed it was to soon. Ledezma will play on a loan. Kind of surprised PSV are loaning him out to be honest. Especially the way he ended the season playing so well.
2tone,
If Richie , in this upcoming season, shows himself to be the kind of player I think he is, then I’d love him to supplant Roldan.
But that has to be accompanied by a significant decline in Roldan. It seems clear that being a teacher’s pet is very powerful with this manager.
And the WC is , at most, 7 games. Rotation will be practiced but even so managers tend to stick with their first “16” (5 subs) and there is a case that neither Roldan nor Ritchie would be in that first 16-17.
And it’s not likely that there will be a lot of garbage time available.
Vacqui, I’m not so sure Richie isn’t looking at what his chance to actually get minutes are and perhaps avoiding call ups until he knows for sure he’s in the US plans. He could make the US squad as the 24th or 25th man and not play or he can wait and maybe be a key player for either Mexico or US in 2026 depending on his development and the next managers for each country.
JR…Ledezma is increasingly in that class of dual-national American-born-but-with-Mexican-eligibility player that Mexico’s probably going to get 60%+ of…mostly because we’ve got a bunch of dual nats all over the world and Mexico doesn’t, aside from those duals born in the USA, plus there’s the fact that Mexico seems a lot more aggressive about poaching and cap-tying them early than we do.
I still think Ledezma – and most dual-nats in that category – is probably wise to wait for a minute before tying himself down and seeing where his best prospects are. The USA is really, really loaded at the midfield right now and that’s even before you start calculating that Brendan’s probably moving to the 8, his brother Paxten’s coming along, Gio’s already moved inside for Dortmund, and Malik Tillman’s likely going to be a BIG factor….then add in Luca and MMA plus Busio and Kellyn Acosta, and it’s logjam inside.
Oh, and Diego Luna’s coming up. Anybody who watched that kid play knows he’s potentially going to be a HUGE factor in the next cycle. There’s going to be some very good players left out.
Is there room for Ledezma? Or is he just that good?
quozzel,
I’ve long thought Richie was special.
It’s too early to say for sure that he’s not in the 2022 plans but you can’t ignore the math.
And I see that the Mexican Federation just fired sporting director Torrado, so you know that could lead to an even more aggressive attitude about duals.
On the other hand it doesn’t take long for “depth” to disappear so I hope Richie takes his time