Richie Ledezma spent most of last season in MLS with New York City FC and the American midfielder could very well be on his way back to North America in the coming weeks.
LAFC, Portland Timbers, and Real Salt Lake are among several clubs interested in acquiring Ledezma, a source close to the player confirmed to SBI. The San Jose Earthquakes are also showing interest in Ledezma, who is in the final 12 months of his PSV contract.
RSL holds Ledezma’s MLS rights after previously coming through the academy ranks and featuring for Real Monarchs during the 2018 USL season. The Western Conference club would receive a fee if another MLS side strikes a deal for Ledezma this summer.
He is unable to officially make the move to MLS until July 18 when the Secondary Transfer Window opens.
The 23-year-old made 23 appearances (14 starts) while on loan at NYCFC last season. He registered five assists in 1,189 minutes of action, earning valuable playing time after a lengthy drought at PSV.
A former U.S. youth national team standout, Ledezma originally moved to PSV in 2019, signing a one-and-a-half-year contract. He debuted for PSV’s first team in November 2020 and subsequently made his U.S. men’s national team debut that month in a 6-2 friendly win over Panama, registering two assists in the match.
Ledezma missed most of the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons due after tearing his ACL on multiple occasions.
Injuries have reduced Ledezma to only 24 first team appearances in Holland. He made one appearance last season, playing five minutes in PSV’s 3-1 season finale win over RKC Waalwijk.
PSV won the Eredivisie title on 91 points, losing just once in 34 league matches. Fellow Americans Sergino Dest, Malik Tillman, and Ricardo Pepi were all key members of the PSV squad.
