Sergino Dest and Malik Tillman have enjoyed positive loan spells so far with Dutch leaders PSV and the possibility of them potentially joining the club outright is very high.
PSV sporting director Earnie Stewart confirmed the club’s interest in acquiring both Dest and Tillman on permanent deals, he told Ziggo Sport talkshow “Rondo” on Monday. Both Dest and Tillman were acquired this summer on season-long loan spells from their parent clubs.
“It is true that there is an option to buy both players,” Stewart said on the Ziggo talkshow ‘Rondo.’ “The expectation is that we will probably do something with that.”
Dest, who was out of favor at La Liga club Barcelona, has gelled right into Peter Bosz’s squad, logging one goal and two assists in 19 combined appearances. The U.S. men’s national team full back has featured as a left and right back for PSV, who will face Borussia Dortmund in the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 next February-March.
Tillman signed a new contract with Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich earlier this year before heading to Eindhoven for the season. The 21-year-old has contributed five goals and five assists in 19 combined appearances, excelling alongside both Dest and fellow USMNT teammate, Ricardo Pepi.
PSV has certainly benefitted from the arrivals of all three players, currently sitting undefeated in the Eredivisie table (48 points, 16-0-0 record) and reaching the UCL Round of 16.
Stewart hasn’t officially confirmed a deal for either player just yet, but knows the positive feelings that Dest and Tillman have enjoyed so far in Holland.
“Fortunately, yes,” Stewart said about Dest/Tillman’s happiness at the club. “That is of course also very important. As a club you can want anything, but a player is very important in this. You first discuss it with the player and his management, so it is a bit premature to say that here at this table.”
PSV closes out its 2023 schedule on Thursday against FC Twente in the KNVB Cup.
Read today Bayern can block the buy option, by paying an additional fee to PSV.
my first reaction was dest and tillman might be expensive buys for cheap dutch teams but talking purchase options suggests otherwise. re some of the comments below, why is it fanboys want to move along our players no sooner than they find a decent home and start playing well? both guys have bounced around with hit and miss minutes. this is dest’s birth country and fits his naive style, and tillman is playing and producing. stay put.
“why is it fanboys want to move along our players”
Fanboys got nothing to do with this.
Talk your shit to PSV, Barca, Bayern Munich ,Dest and Tillman.
“ my first reaction was dest and tillman might be expensive buys for cheap dutch teams but talking purchase options suggests otherwise.” That’s why they likely also won’t stay long at PSV if they do end up being transferred. It has nothing to do with fans and all to do with the bottom line. If PSV purchases Tillman for 14 million and 6-12 months later Liverpool offers 35 million they’re going to sell him that’s their business model. That’s also why young players sign with Ajax and PSV they know they’ll have a chance to play and be successful and then be moved on to bigger clubs.
Good they both deserve it and have been playing well. I prefer Malick in the Bundesliga though.
I think.it would be good for both to stay with PSV for a couple of years. So.ethi g tp be said for consistency at club. Both are young and will have suitors in the future.
I don’t think Tillman will stay there long. He’s 21 will be 22 in May. If he were to stay thru next season that makes him 23 a prime time to move if PSV wants a return on their investment. The 2026 WC could cause Malik and PSV to hold and see if a good performance drives up his value (Gakpo). This of course assumes he’s going to stay healthy and continue his progression.
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If Dest is bought by PSV I see him staying there for awhile. I just don’t see a big league move, outside of maybe a French side that plays with WBs. I think a lesson learned by this crop of NTers was to be playing for their clubs in the run up to the WC. At PSV Dest is allowed to play with flare and they are almost assured CL football next season barring a huge collapse. With all their possession Dest is seldom forced to defend for long stretches, PSV seems perfect for him to play for the foreseeable future.
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Does anyone know does Richie Ledezma return to PSV in January? Hard to see him back in first team based on NYCFC performance. Jong PSV or sale/loan?
Bayern may have other suitors for Malik. They may want to progress him to a higher level than PSV to boost his asking price.
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“I think a lesson learned by this crop of NTers was to be playing for their clubs in the run up to the WC. ”
??? Are you referring to Dest? Sergino started and played 4 games in Qatar. The first 3 were the best games he’s ever played for the USMNT. The 4th one he ran out of gas but so did all of them.
It’s a good idea to be playing regularly for your club leading up to the WC, (see Ream, Tim, and Robinson, Jedi) for most players but then again the most games you are going to play in a WC is 7, assuming you get to the final. For most players 3-5 games would be a lot. And in the era of 5 subs, it’s a different ball game than in the past. It’s not unusual for players with questionable seasons up to that point having a good World Cup.
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Hear nothing about Richie but he does have a contract until June 30 , 2025 so hopefully they will try to loan him somewhere else in January.
V: depends on how it’s written, the rumored buyout was 14 million, if that’s the agreed number Bayern is stuck with it. If it’s written like “no less than 14 million.” Rumored numbers are wrong about as much as they are right. It’s hard to know because these details are rarely released. Bayern also puts in buy back options in their loan deals a lot so they may sell him to PSV but they get first offer if PSV sells him in a year or two.
JR,
Malik is a long way from his ceiling. Some of the talk coming out of Bayern was that striker might be his best spot. It might be interesting if Bayern sells him to someone who wants to pursue that role with Malik.
Given their performances that’s not surprising. Rangers wanted to sign Tillman after last season but couldn’t afford the price tag. PSV will be looking for a price that then they can flip him next year for a profit. That’s their business model. I found an article that said the buy option is $14 million. If that’s the price this should get done. Barca doesn’t want Serge back, that should get done too.
Tillman was so good against AZ it was scary…though of course, the bad news is, Djorde Mihailovic was nonexistent for AZ at the opposing 10 spot. Granted, Djorde didn’t see the ball much, but on PSV’s second goal he inexplicably just stopped while pressing his guy, which allowed that guy to get past him and collect an errant pass Djorde should have been running down himself…and the break was on. Five seconds later it was in the back of the net. Yeesh. Not good.
Tillman, though, is coming on like a house on fire. I got a fair bit of crap a couple years back from some folks who will remain nameless when I insisted he was easily one of the five most talented guys on our roster in terms of ceiling, but he’s definitely growing into the player I thought he was going to be. When you’ve coached as many young players as I have, you learn to think in terms of ceiling and progression and Tillman’s touch, skill on the ball, and insane Roadrunner-type acceleration were on full display against AZ for everyone to see. He’s also incredibly good on the turn; he’s surprisingly physical for a guy with as much finesse as he has and can turn on a dime…every time somebody tried to body him off the ball he just sort of shrugged them off and then blew past them. That’s a dude with a lot of tools that a lot of teams are going to be very, very interested in. Maybe even Bayern itself in a couple of years.
I also agree with you on Dest regarding France; I’ve had that very thought about him myself. Dest obviously did not succeed in La Liga or Serie A, and while he’s technical enough for both his tactical awareness is his major Achilles heel and that’s absolutely no good for either of those leagues. He’s also not physical enough for the Prem or the Bundesliga, IMHO…which I agree leaves France. There’s a huge gap between the teams at the top and the ones at the bottom, and while I don’t see him as quite a PSG-level player I do think Dest would do very well at a club at the level of Marseille, Monaco, or Lyon…and I suspect one of those could ultimately be where he winds up.
It’s definitely fun watching US players destroy the Dutch league in the present, though. 😉
Coach Q, you compared Tillman to Pogba. That’s what you got crap for! Being extremely bad at player comparison and talent evaluation. Revisionism at its finest, people. If anything Tillman went to Bayern Munich’s academy, then to the Rangers and now, the Dutch league. You’ve been pointing out the spending at the Eredivisie clubs in comparison to the MLS. You been pointing out the disparity between the top of the Eredivisie to the bottom of the league. It seems to me Tillman is backtracking. He will be eventually sold back into the Bundesliga to a club not named Bayern Munich. Tillman is excelling in a league where Dest is a right footed LB. That’s not a league where a top 5 talented US team player needs to be celebrated!! This is a proceed w/ caution moment for Tillman. Do you even care that people read your posts?
Now who’s being revisionist, sir? I compared Tillman to Pogba in terms of playing style…which is similar, to my eyes, and if you don’t see it I’ll respectfully disagree. Mind, Pogba was on a whole different level and while I am very high on Tillman’s ceiling I dunno if Tillman will ever reach that lofty level. But I do think he can at least be a poor man’s Pogba and that ain’t half-bad.
But in no way did I ever say: “this guy is as good as Paul Pogba.” Go necro those old posts if you wanna. I very distinctly differentiated between “style” and “quality”. And I know I used the word “ceiling.” That’s literally how I see a player. Where is he now…and what can he be?
And I will insist the style does seem similar. Tillman’s got that same languid, graceful, unhurried, upright style, never seems to be rushing and always seems to be under control…right up until the moment he turns on the jets and goes blowing past. I’m not sure Tillman’s quite the athlete Pogba was – that guy was half cat – but Tillman still turns your head around, some of the stuff he can do that most mortal men can’t. Tillman’s up there with McKennie and Jedi as an athlete and I think his contact balance might be even better.
And to address the point about moving…there, I dunno and I will concede you may – may! – be right that he needs to stay put for a minute. There’s real value in being in a good situation and I’m never a fan of moving just to move because of perceived “level.” Brendan Aaronson’s an example of a guy who got in over his head and he’s struggling big-time now. But on the other hand, when you’re on a team that stomps smurfs every week like, say, Celtic, Rangers, Ajax (usually!), Benfica, and PSV…your game can also plateau and stagnate, too. Getting your a$$ beat is often a wonderful teaching tool. Like, as bad as Aaronson’s dragging now, when he drops down a level – actually, PSV would be wonderful for him and I suspect Ernie Stewart would grab Brendan in a second if he can – Aaronson will look like he’s playing at a different speed than most of the guys around him. Mostly because he will be. Once your speed of thought/pace-of-play level gets cranked up by playing at that higher level, when you drop down again it literally feels like the folks around you are playing in slow motion.
So as a coach, I always have to gauge where that line was, between challenging a player enough and obliterating his confidence and crushing him. And here’s where I agree with Vacqui that Tillman is not nearly at his ceiling yet…and I also agree with JR that Dest is close to his and a good team in the French league is probably his highest level. That “naive” description you made about his playing style seems apt.
And I will also offer to you a mild rebuke that I have offered to a couple of others on here: stop being so thin-skinned, and the second you lapse into unwarranted personal attacks you’re marking yourself as insecure in your opinion. Which means you’ve already lost the argument because if you’re insecure, there’s a reason…and you’ve also maybe made an enemy in the process. And for what? The whole reason I personally am here, anyway, is to talk to you and the other soccer supernerds, the last thing I want to do is make enemies of any of you because it means I can’t pick your brain anymore. You often don’t see the game the same way I do…and that’s a good thing because it means you’re often seeing things I’m not.
Anyway, just my .02 worth. Do with it what you will.
It’s Ok 2 Think
quozzel is not the only one who sees similarities between Pogba and Malik.
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“When I play as a No.8 or No.10 [in central midfield], my playing style is similar to Paul Pogba’s,” Tillman told SportBild. “I like him a lot. I really like how he plays. He’s something of a role model for me.”
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Malik ought to know.
The primary difference is Pogba plays deeper than Malik usually does and is not the finisher that Malik is showing himself to be.
Bayern were grooming him as a scorer:
“With the No.9 jersey on his back, Tillman plundered 13 goals for Bayern’s U19s before the coronavirus-enforced break in play, making him the top scorer league-wide in the U19 Bundesliga. Throw in his seven assists and Tillman had a hand in a goal every 70 minutes he played at that level.”
It’s important to remember that Malik is still Bayern property and they rate him very much. They are the one’s guiding his career arc at the moment not quozzel or Gregg.
Bayern sent him to Scotland.
Bayern arranged for him to go to PSV.
While I’m sure impatient USMNT fans want Malik to displace Harry Kane already, Bayern appears to be good with the pace at which he is developing.
It’s worthy of note that Harry Kane was loaned out 4 times by Spurs before he became a regular at Spurs. Malik’s skill set is similar to what Kane has. He’s another player Malik ought to think about emulating.
Gregg has an opportunity here. Two guys in Gio and Malik with potentially very high level scoring ability. It should tell you something that Germany were really upset that Malik declared for the USMNT.