The American winger is set to leave Stamford Bridge after four frustrating years – and few supporters will be sad to see him go
When Chelsea initially agreed to sign Christian Pulisic from Borussia Dortmund for a £58 million ($74m) fee in January 2019, anticipation was high. Former Chelsea director Marina Granovskaia described him as "one of the most sought after talents in Europe" after the deal was announced, and outlined the club's vision for his future.
"At just 20, we believe he has the potential to become an important Chelsea player for many years to come," she said. Four years on, Pulisic has still yet to live up to that billing – and his time in west London is now almost certainly up.
AC Milan appears to be the forward's most likely next destination, as the Italian giants have tabled two offers for his services at the start of the summer window. Chelsea rejected their latest £19m ($25m) bid, but it is expected that a compromise will be reached in the coming days.
Pulisic has already agreed personal terms with Milan, where he is set to reunite with former Chelsea team-mates Fikayo Tomori, Olivier Giroud and Ruben Loftus-Cheek. And Serie A could be the ideal place for him to reignite his career.
The Italian top-flight is less demanding than the Premier League, and Pulisic should have a far easier time getting regular minutes for the Rossoneri than he has at Chelsea. It would certainly make no sense for new Blues boss Mauricio Pochettino to try and keep hold of him.
Pulisic failed to deliver under Frank Lampard, Thomas Tuchel and Graham Potter, despite being given plenty of opportunities. Some players just aren't cut out for life at one of the top clubs in English football. But what exactly went wrong for the U.S. superstar at Chelsea? GOAL take a look below…
Getty'Nobody even noticed me'
During an appearance on former United States international Jermaine Jones' podcast 1 in May 2020, Pulisic opened up on his first day at Chelsea. He finally joined up with his new team-mates in July 2019, after being loaned back to Dortmund for six months.
“The team had already started pre-season in Japan so I flew straight there and I had to literally fly by myself and then meet the team who had flown from London," he said. “I had to go straight to the hotel and the next thing on the schedule was to go straight to training. I was tired, nervous and didn't know what to think but, ‘I'm at Chelsea and this is insane’.
“I got on the bus, they had just arrived as well. Everyone is half-asleep, I go and sit on the bus and nobody even noticed me. Nobody said anything. There were maybe one or two guys who said ‘hey, hello’ and I was like, ‘what's going on here?’"
Pulisic added: "Those first couple of days of training I was nervous. You know what it's like when you move to a new team. They're nice guys off the field, but to earn that respect you have to show on the field you have that ability, that's just how it is."
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the American made a slow start to life at Stamford Bridge. Lampard handed Pulisic his full debut in a 4-0 loss to Manchester United at Old Trafford, and he kept his spot for subsequent August matches against Leicester, Norwich and Sheffield United.
Pulisic then found himself dropped to the bench throughout September, and didn't start again until an away clash with Burnley on October 26. But the rest served him well.
Chelsea ran out 4-2 winners at Turf Moor, and Pulisic scored a 'perfect' hat-trick by netting with left foot, right foot, and headed attempts. It was a stunning performance that showed exactly why the Blues had made such a huge investment in his services.
Pulisic became the first American player to score for Chelsea that day, and the youngest man to ever score a treble for the club at 21 years and 38 days old. He followed it up in style too, scoring in subsequent wins against Watford and Crystal Palace.
But the former Dortmund star was unable to sustain that form, and he suffered a tear to his abductor muscle in the new year that kept him out of action for the best part of six months – including the Covid-19 enforced break in the season.
To Pulisic's credit, he returned with a spring in his step, and recorded eight goal contributions in his final nine appearances of the campaign, including a sublime individual effort against Manchester City. There was genuine optimism among supporters that he could go on to become a key player in 2020-21 as a result – as comparisons were made with Chelsea hero Eden Hazard – but he would never hit the same heights again.
AdvertisementGettyThe Tuchel era
Pulisic's second season with the Blues didn't start well as the cracks in Lampard's system became more and more apparent. By the end of January, Chelsea had dropped to ninth in the Premier League and Pulisic had just one goal to his name.
Roman Abramovich took the "very difficult decision" to relieve the club legend of his managerial duties, and Thomas Tuchel was on hand to replace Lampard after leaving Paris Saint-Germain a month earlier. Tuchel won two Ligue 1 titles at PSG and took them to a maiden Champions League final, after being snapped up from Dortmund in 2017.
Tuchel brought genuine pedigree back to the Stamford Bridge dugout after the failed Lampard experiment, and it also looked like good news for Pulisic at the time. The pair had previously worked together at Dortmund, with Pulisic fast-tracked into the senior set-up under the German.
But it quickly became clear that he would not enjoy the same favour with Tuchel at Chelsea. During his first two months at the helm, Pulisic didn't start a single Premier League game.
"Maybe his biggest problem is that I know him from Dortmund and I think he started only in the cup games," Tuchel told reporters when asked to explain Pulisic's reduced role. "It is my responsibility and it is a bit unfair but I know what impact he can have in the last 20 or 30 minutes."
Pulisic did his utmost to maximise his time on the pitch, and ended up playing a key role in Chelsea's unlikely run to Champions League glory. He scored the Blues' only goal in the first leg of their semi-final tie against Real Madrid at Santiago Bernabeu to secure a 1-1 draw, and then provided the assist for Mason Mount to wrap up a 2-0 victory in the return.
Chelsea clinched Europe's ultimate prize after a 1-0 victory over Manchester City in the final, with Pulisic impressing after coming on as a 66th-minute substitute. He became only the second American player in history to lift the trophy in the process, but the joy of that night in Porto wouldn't last for long.
The winger made some explosive revelations in his biography, 'Christian Pulisic: My Journey So Far', a year later – which took some of the gloss off his European success with Chelsea. Pulisic criticised Tuchel for not starting him in the second leg against Real, writing: "I’d had a really good first leg performance and our following match was against Fulham in the league. Tuchel told me that he was resting me for the second leg and as a result I didn’t play a single minute in the Fulham game.
"Then on matchday of the second semi, Tuchel tells me he’s changed his mind and he’s going with Kai [Havertz]. I honestly was dumbfounded and very disappointed. I thought that I’d earned a start and, most importantly, he had assured me previously I was going to start. So by the time he brought me on with about 25 minutes left, I was just so wound up."
Getty'The sad thing is he loves the club'
Pulisic's criticism of Tuchel came after the manager had been ruthlessly sacked by Chelsea in September 2022. But his frustration had been steadily rising throughout the German tactician's final season in charge.
Chelsea opened their 2021-22 campaign with a 3-0 win against Crystal Palace, with Pulisic getting his name on the scoresheet. But he tested positive for Covid a week later, and then sustained an ankle injury which kept him out of action until November.
Pulisic would go on to play his part in the club's FIFA Club World Cup success and made 38 appearances across all competitions by the end of the campaign, but only half of those came as a starter. And his father couldn't resist speaking out on social media.
Mark Pulisic said of his son's situation in May: “The sad thing is he loves the club, team-mates, and London… puts his heart and soul into being a pro." Tuchel's response was typically ruthless.
“I am not concerned if the player's father says he does not love me [on Twitter],” said the German. "As ever, we have our reasons to choose our line-up and at this level, you will never see happy faces when not selected. Am I always right? For sure not. Is it always fair? For sure not. But this is what you sign up for in a club like Chelsea."
Pulisic was strongly linked with a transfer that summer, but Tuchel also insisted that he had "zero problems" with the U.S. captain, and made sure that he stayed put for the 2022-23 campaign.
He still had to be content with a place on the bench, though, despite Chelsea starting the season with only three wins out of seven in all competitions, and it surely would have come as a relief when the club's new Todd Boehly-led ownership group cut ties with Tuchel. United States manager Greg Berhalter suggested as much when reacting to the German's departure.
"I'm not happy that a guy has lost his job," he said. "But if this means more opportunity for Christian, then it’s positive because he’s a guy that’s proven that he can perform at that level. We’ll just have to wait and see."
Brighton boss Graham Potter was the man chosen to succeed Tuchel, but the managerial change didn't work in the favour of the USMNT. Pulisic's decline was destined to continue, along with Chelsea's.
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Getty'Graham Potter doesn't like him'
“I’m feeling good going back, honestly. I have a fresh start now, and I’m excited to play for the new manager," Pulisic told after Potter's appointment. "So really just looking forward to it. I just have to prove myself, as everyone does, and as I’ve done before."
He backed up those words by scoring on his first start under the new manager in a 3-0 win against Wolves, but was dropped to the bench for Chelsea's next three matches. It quickly became apparent that Potter saw Pulisic in a similar light to Tuchel in terms of his value to the team.
Former United States international Eric Wynalda even went so far as to assess Potter's body language around Pulisic, and came to an outrageous conclusion. "Bottom line is, Graham Potter doesn’t like him," Wynalda told . "He just doesn’t like him. He’s the one player that if he’s coming down the hallway, he’s looking for the side door. He doesn’t want to talk to him. He doesn’t want to look at him and nobody will admit that."
The mid-season World Cup break came at the perfect time for Pulisic, and as always, he was a different player for his country. The U.S reached the last16 for the first time since 2020, finishing second in Group B behind England.
Their journey ended at the hands of the Netherlands, but Pulisic and the rest of the squad gave a good account of themselves in Qatar. The Chelsea star recorded a goal and two assists in four appearances, and notably gave England's defence the run-around as the U.S. held Gareth Southgate's side to a 0-0 draw in the group stage.
But any hope he had of transferring that momentum to club level at Chelsea was dashed when he picked up a knee complaint during a 1-0 loss to Manchester City on January 6. Pulisic spent the next two months on the sidelines and there were several players ahead of him in the pecking order upon his return as a result of Chelsea's £300m (£282m) spend in the January window.
Potter was sacked at the start of April with the Blues languishing down in 11th in the Premier League, and Pulisic's reaction was telling. "It's a tough situation for a lot of people," he said. "A lot of stuff has been changing in general at the club this year, and now with the manager out it's another new challenge."
Unsurprisingly, Pulisic did not rise to that challenge.