When Christian Pulisic arrives at Chelsea in the summer of 2019 (he officially signs in the winter but is loaned to BVB in the process), Eden Hazard’s replacement seems to have been found. The Belgian genius, left for Real Madrid for an envelope of 100 M€, leaves his post of left winger vacant. The young American, on the other hand, arrives in London with the status of a rising star in world football and a transfer of 60 million euros to assume. His beginnings under Frank Lampard were tumultuous, but the former Borussia Dortmund player asserted himself over time.
In October 2019, against Burnley away from home, he also scored a perfect hat-trick: a goal with his left foot, a goal with his right foot and another with his head. This is the start of a beautiful story. As the Covid-19 appears and disrupts competitions, Christian Pulisic relaxes completely and enjoys the second half of the season. His solitary run against Manchester City or his entry against Liverpool (1 goal and 1 assist) at the end of the 2019-2020 campaign made him the future No. 10 for Chelsea.
Badly digested competition
Christian Pulisic, author of 11 goals and 10 offerings in 34 TCC games during his first season at Chelsea, will have to live with the arrivals of Hakim Ziyech and Timo Werner. Both wingers are coming off magnificent seasons. The first has just finished player of the year three times with Ajax, with whom he will have achieved an incredible epic in the Champions League. The second planted 28 times in 34 Bundesliga matches with Leipzig. In short, very heavy. The American suffers competition. Worse, he gets injured regularly and can only accept his new status as a substitute. If the arrival of Thomas Tuchel on the London bench will reverse the trend of the Blues in bad shape, Christian Pulisic sees his playing time reduced over the season, confined to a role of supersub as during the final of Champions League against Manchester City.
An “injury prone” player
Since the start of his career, the American winger has always been physically fragile. Already in Dortmund, injuries failed him. But at Chelsea, they will get worse. In 4 seasons with the Blues, Christian Pulisic will never have exceeded 27 Premier League games, out of 38 possible. In total, during his London adventure, “Captain America” missed 55 matches, or 413 days away from the green rectangle. Too, too many physical glitches for such a talented player. Especially when we take a closer look at his performance in selection. With the United States, the 24-year-old winger has been transformed for several years into a real boss. Able to score, to score, but also to carry a nation which is developing at great speed. His statistics speak for him: 25 goals in 60 selections. A strange contrast between a national team leader and a club bench player.
What future ?
If Olympique de Lyonnais seemed ready to break the bank for Christian Pulisic with an offer of 25 M€, the American gave his preference: AC Milan. The Italian club, much more upscale and attractive at present than the Gones are, would be favored by the Blues striker. However, the Milan offer is not as high as that of the Lyonnais. The ball is therefore in the court of Chelsea, who will have to negotiate with Milan for the transfer of the star from the USA. In the event of a transfer, Pulisic would arrive at the same time or almost as Ruben Loftus-Cheek and would find other former teammates in the person of Fikayo Tomori and Olivier Giroud. Versatile, the former Borussia Dortmund player can play on the right wing or in a more central position, even if the left wing remains his priority. AC Milan will most likely have to shift the American to associate him in particular with Rafael Leão, unshakeable in his position. At 24, Christian Pulisic must revive to find colors, the same as with his selection.
Is this a hit piece on CP10?
CP has long been seen as the american whipping boy in Europe.
Noone complains about MM, Reece james, B chillwel injuries.
Seems like all these articles want him to be injured to push a narrative?
Let pulisic take all the Pk and free kicks.
Pulisic is such traah, useless, waste of air. Not good enough to even look at a european pitch, let alone touch one. GLAD HES GONE. His career is over.