Stoke City have reportedly made a bid of €20 million for Borussia Dortmund attacking midfielder Christian Pulisic.
Pulisic in action for Dortmund competing with Sunderland’s Joel Asoro
According to reports in Bild, Stoke have lodged a bid for the 17-year-old as they look to add to their potent attacking talent that already includes players such as Bojan and Xherdan Shaqiri.
Little is known about the US starlet on these shores, so we thought we’d do some digging on your behalf.
Despite being born in the USA, he discovered football in England
Pulisic was born in Pennsylvania. His father, Mark, was a professional indoor footballer for Harrisburg Heat.
Although Pulisic minor had taken to football somewhat in the States, he didn’t start showing real promise until he turned seven when the Pulisic family spent a year living in England.
Pulisic played for the youth section of Brackley Town whose senior side currently compete in Vanarama National League North.
After his mother’s teaching exchange had finished, the family returned to the USA and Christian joined his local team, the PA Classics.
He signed for Dortmund when he was 16
Mark used to accompany Christian to Europe during the summer to visit some of the biggest clubs both in Britain and on the continent.
Christian was already making waves for the US junior sides, scoring 22 goals in 28 appearances for the U15s, and making his debut for the U17s side a few years under age.
Pulisic chasing back against Argentina in the Copa America
It was during the 2013 Nike Friendlies final that Dortmund first took notice of him when Pulisic scored a goal and assisted another when the USA beat Brazil 4-1.
He joined Dortmund in January 2015.
He wasted no time rising through the ranks
Pulisic was placed in the Dortmund U17s squad upon arrival before being promoted to the U19s squad during the summer of 2015.
In 15 appearances for the two age-group sides, he contributed 10 goals and eight assists and was subsequently called up to the Dortmund first-team squad during the winter break of the 2015/16 season.
Dortmund boss Thomas Tuchel didn’t hesitate to put Pulisic into his first team
On 30 January 2016, Pulisic was named on the bench for the Bundesliga clash with FC Ingolstadt 04, and he made his way on to the field in the 68th minute for Adrian Ramos.
He went on to achieve his first start for the club in a match versus Bayer Leverkusen on 21 February, and he has now played nine league matches for the club, scoring two goals.
He has Croatian citizenship
Pulisic’s grandfather was born in Croatia, and so he was able to apply for Croatian citizenship to ease the transition from the USA to Dortmund.
Mark also made the move over to Europe with him and now coaches the Dortmund U10s side.
What are his strengths?
Pulisic is a prolific goalscorer.
He scored 28 goals in 34 appearances for USA U17s. When he scored for Dortmund against Hamburg on 17 April, he became the youngest foreigner to score in the Bundesliga, and when he doubled his account against Stuttgart six days later, he became the youngest player of any nationality to have scored two goals in Bundesliga history.
He made his debut for the full USA national side on March 29 in the 4-0 win over Guatemala, and scored his first goal for his country on 28 May against Bolivia at the age of 17 years and 253 days.
Celebrating his debut goal against Bolivia
Pulisic plays predominantly in a left-sided attacking role and possesses excellent technical and finishing ability, in addition to being lightning quick.
His progress through the ranks would also suggest that he has an excellent temperament.
If Stoke are to be successful in their bid, Pulisic would become the most expensive US footballer ever, overtaking the estimated fee of $10 million paid by Villarreal to sign Jozy Altidore from the New York Red Bulls.
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