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KOMPAS.com – Rumors of Maarten Paes and Joey Pelupessy‘s move to Persib Bandung continue to heat up and attract the attention of Indonesian football fans.
The two Indonesian national team players are said to have reached an initial agreement and are just waiting for an official announcement from Persib management.
Of course, this rumor about Maarten Paes and Joey Pelupessy became a topic of conversation in cyberspace, throughout Thursday (25/12/2025).
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However, until now Persib Bandung has not provided an official statement.
Because Maarten Paes is still under contract with FC Dallas until December 2026, while Joey Pelupessy has the status of a Lommel SK player with a contract period until June 2026.
Paes Still Ideal for Staying in MLS
For this reason, national football observer Gita Suwondo believes that these rumors need to be seen objectively.
He admitted that he would regret it if the Dutch-born goalkeeper actually left the highest caste professional football league in the United States and Canada in the near future.
“He is still the first choice at FC Dallas. This means that without intending to reduce the strength of League 1, it must be said that competitively MLS can still be considered a better competition than the Super League,” said the observer who is usually called Bung GAZ to Kompas.com.
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According to him, the position as main goalkeeper at FC Dallas is an important factor for continuity of performance, both at club level and the Indonesian national team.
“He is also not a reserve there so he will have more playing time there,” he added.
In contrast to Maarten Paes, he views Joey Pelupessy’s move to Indonesia as still within reasonable limits.
Because the factors of age and level of competition are considerations that are considered realistic.
As is known, Joey Pelupessy is currently strengthening Lommel SK in the second caste of the Belgian League and is starting to enter the final phase of his career in European football.
“Okay. Moreover, at his age, he is also the age to reach another place, after not playing in Europe, where will he play. So that’s okay,” he said again.
Concerns about the Indonesian National Team
Meanwhile, Persib Bandung previously brought in Thom Haye and Eliano Reijnders as part of the team composition. To navigate the 2025-2026 Super League and 2025-2026 AFC Champions League Two (ACL 2) competitions.
