Christian Pulisic has always proven to be a big team player since he broke out of Borussia Dortmund‘s youth system to play in the senior team of the Bundesliga side in 2016. He spent a total of 3 years in the club’s senior team before he made his big-money move to Chelsea.
Before Christian Pulisic left Borussia Dortmund to join Chelsea on January 2, 2019, for a transfer fee worth €64 million, the 21-year-old United States Men National Team (USMNT) player had scored a total of 19 goals and provided a total of 26 assists for the club.
He joined the Premier League which is regarded as a more demanding league and yet he was able to hold his own despite a series of injury woes. In his debut season with Chelsea, the USMNT captain scored 11 goals and provided 10 assists in 34 matches.
Christian Pulisic’s performance so far has forced football pundits to always compare him to Eden Hazard who had the best of his football career while playing for the London club. Before the 29-year-old left-winger left Chelsea to join Real Madrid in 2019, he scored a whopping 110 goals and provided 92 assists in 352 matches which won him almost every title in English football.
This is the footstep Christian Pulisic is expected to follow and he has been doing that as good as he can despite the series of injuries he has to deal with. As he has been performing miracles for the club he has been playing for, he has also been doing wonders for USMNT. Since he made his senior team debut for the team on March 10, 2016, he has scored 14 goals in 34 caps which has earned him the team’s captain at 21.
Hence, the head coach of USMNT, Gregg Berhalter said if Christian Pulisic continues with the kind of performance he has been shunning out for Chelsea, he could end up in one of the biggest clubs in the world which he said are Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, and Barcelona.
Berhalter described Christian Pulisic as a leader at Chelsea and an inspiration to other American players in Bundesliga whose dream is to play in the Premier League like Pulisic.
“At 21, he is a leader at Chelsea,” Berhalter told Sport Bild. “It doesn’t happen that often that a Bundesliga player moves to England and immediately convinces there.
“He quickly got used to the speed and the more physical style of playing in England. He is a role model for other U.S. players in the Bundesliga whose goal is the Premier League.
“Christian is perfect for Chelsea. All dangerous attacking plays go through him, he shines as a goal scorer and provides assists.
“If he can keep this level, he can play for the world’s biggest clubs like Bayern Munich, Barcelona or Real Madrid.”
Christian Pulisic has a huge Mountain to climb
Though Christian Pulisic’s national team coach believes that the player has all the requirements to become a Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, or Barcelona player, the youngster has a huge mountain to climb at Chelsea in the forthcoming season.
Apart from battling to maintain his fitness level week-in and week-out, he now has five forwards to contend with for playing time. Recall that Chelsea just signed three proven forwards, Kai Havertz, Hakim Ziyech, Timo Werner. These three players were game-changers in their former clubs and might not be second fiddles to Pulisic unless he is able to outperform them in every given opportunity.
Besides the new trio, Christian Pulisic has other forwards like Tammy Abraham and Olivier Giroud to contend with for a space in Chelsea’s attack. Indeed, if the American captain can survive the 2020-2021 season ahead of the aforementioned forwards, it will be certain that he is ready for the “biggest clubs” in the world.
