Earlier today, Leeds and Newcastle target Christian Pulisic was handed a rare start in the Premier League as Chelsea welcomed Wolves to Stamford Bridge.
It was only the United States international’s second Premier League start of the season, with Graham Potter keen to take a proper look at him following a period of abandonment by Thomas Tuchel.
Unfortunately, Pulisic squandered an opportunity to score on his return to the starting XI, leaving BBC pundit Pat Nevin baffled – fortunately for him and Chelsea, the Blues still managed to secure a 3-0 win with the American netting the second.
Leeds & Newcastle target slips up
Well, the American had a great chance to score a second goal midway through the opening 45 minutes, although he instead decided to convince Simon Hooper that he had been fouled inside the penalty area.
Speaking about the incident on BBC Radio 5 Live, Nevin said: “I think Christian Pulisic should have went for it. He was looking to go down for a penalty. Why do that? Just carry on if you get hit. A great chance for Chelsea missed.”
Potter surely wasn’t impressed by that moment.
It comes after Ben Jacobs revealed that Newcastle are interested in Pulisic, whereas it was another journalist in Dean Jones who mentioned that Leeds are keen to sign him.
Leeds & Newcastle can sign Pulisic for £32m
According to Calciomercato, Chelsea are willing to sell their No.10 for just £32m – which is fairly cheap considering the fact they paid £58m to sign him from Borussia Dortmund in 2019.
Unless the 24-year-old embarks on a stunning run of form between now and January, we can’t see the Blues changing their minds on that stance – especially if he continues to squander golden opportunities as Nevin noticed.
Having said that, an impressive World Cup campaign in Qatar could see Pulisic’s value surge back to what it was during his days at Borussia Dortmund, so Jesse Marsch and Eddie Howe will hope that doesn’t happen.
Be sure to keep an eye on this saga going into 2023, as Pulisic could soon leave Stamford Bridge if he fails to build on today’s goal.
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