Ricardo Pepi progress report: Assessing USMNT striker's ups and downs at Augsburg

There was always going to be a period of adaptation. Ricardo Pepi is 19 years old. He was 18 when his $20 million transfer to FC Augsburg was confirmed. Prior to his breakout 2021 season with FC Dallas, he'd played just 528 minutes in Major League Soccer.

To expect the United States men's national team forward to saunter into the Bundesliga and carry on performing as he had in North America, where he directly contributed to a goal every 140 minutes last season, was unreasonable -- although such a transfer fee virtually guaranteed those expectations. However, four months into Pepi's European career and with just one game remaining in the 2021-22 campaign, against SpVgg Greuther Furth…