Why Sergino Dest ended up at PSV despite wanting ‘bigger club’ & saying ‘no’ to transfer on several occasions – with former USMNT star making move happen

Sergino Dest has explained why he ended up at PSV despite initially wanting a “bigger club”, with a former USMNT star helping to get a deal done.

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• Surplus to requirements at Barcelona
• Needed regular game time
• Headed back to native Netherlands

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  WHAT HAPPENED?

  The United States international defender was informed in the summer of 2023 that he was surplus to requirements at Barcelona. He spent the 2022-23 campaign on loan at Serie A giants AC Milan and made a name for himself while on the books of Eredivisie heavyweights Ajax.

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  WHAT DEST SAID

  Dest was looking for another marquee team when heading for the exits at Camp Nou, but was talked into a loan return to his native Netherlands by ex-USMNT forward Earnie Stewart – who is now director of football at PSV having left a similar role in the U.S. camp. Dest has told the podcast of how Stewart get him to Eindhoven: “He was consistent, he didn’t stop. After a couple of times that we said ‘no, no, no’, he didn’t stop. He kept trying to find ways to make it happen. After a while you starting thinking ‘this might be what I need at this moment in my career’. Obviously when you have been at bigger clubs you don’t want to go down to a club that is in a lesser division. This is still a really great, nice club, but after AC Milan and Barcelona, you want to stay at that level. But I didn’t play for six months, so I didn’t really have the choice. I had no other option that to just do it and prove everybody wrong and show them again.”

• THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Pressed on what he was looking for from a switch in 2023, having struggled for game time at Milan, Dest added: “I needed a coach that believes in him and wanted to go give me minutes. I needed to play. That’s the only way I can show myself and prove people wrong. I needed a warm environment, honest people around me. I knew Earnie already from a couple of years ago and it felt good. It wasn’t only Earnie, even the coach started texting and calling me. Then, [PSV president] Marcel Brands started texting and calling me. I thought ‘wait, we’re going to play Champions League with this team, we are going to be champions’. I thought ‘okay, if I’m going on loan these are the things I needed, so why not?’"

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  WHAT NEXT FOR DEST?

  Dest has started to rebuild his reputation with PSV, becoming a regular under head coach Peter Bosz, and is likely to complete a permanent transfer away from Barcelona in 2024. He also has international action to look forward to this year, with the USMNT readying themselves for CONCACAF and Copa America competition.