Christian Pulisic was seen as a key player when Chelsea splashed £58 million on the American international, who joined from Borussia Dortmund, back in 2019, but things haven’t quite worked out for the 24-year-old.
His time in England may well be coming to an end, though, as a report from Football.London claims that Italian giants AC Milan are close to agreeing a fee with the West London club, after making a £19 million offer for the winger on Wednesday.
After seeing their first bid of £12 million rejected for the American, Stefano Pioli’s side have returned with another offer for Pulisic, who has reportedly agreed personal terms with last season’s Champions League semi-finalists.
Pulisic has struggled since his move to Chelsea
When the then-21-year-old joined Chelsea in 2019, there was a lot of fanfare about the winger’s arrival. When the Blues completed his signing from Borussia Dortmund, Marina Granovskaia, Chelsea’s former director, described the winger as “one of Europe’s most sought-after players”.
But, it hasn’t really happened for the winger despite such an encouraging start during Frank Lampard’s first spell as Chelsea manager. Indeed, during his first season in England, Pulisic netted nine times and assisted a further four times, but since then his numbers have dried up.
In the following three seasons he spent at Chelsea, he only added 11 goals to his total in a Blues shirt and he now looks set to depart to the Italian giants, for a pretty decent fee.
Where the American fits in under Pioli remains to be seen. The Rossonerri’s star player is Rafael Leao, and the Portuguese international recently signed a new contract keeping him at the club until 2028, so the American will have to feature off the right or potentially through the middle.
For Chelsea, it represents a big loss on the club accounts, but for Mauricio Pochettino this may well be a blessing in disguise. Chelsea have so many forward options, not including the new additions of Nicolas Jackson of Villarreal and Christopher Nkunku from RB Leipzig, so creating space will be crucial for Chelsea going forward.
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