Christian Pulisic could be heading out of Chelsea to boost his World Cup prospects — ESPN’s Insider Notebook has the latest. PLUS: David de Gea is on borrowed time at Man Utd.
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Chelsea’s Pulisic set for showdown talks
Christian Pulisic is set to hold talks with the Chelsea hierarchy over his future and will push to leave the club if his prospects of regular first-team football look bleak, sources told ESPN.
The possible arrivals of attacking duo Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from Barcelona and Everton‘s Anthony Gordon in particular would affect Pulisic, who sources suggest is concerned about playing regularly enough to ensure he heads to the World Cup finals in Qatar with the United States national team in the best possible shape.
This week, Manchester United became the latest club to enquire about the 23-year-old, who has two years remaining on his contract. So far Newcastle United, Juventus and Atletico Madrid are the other clubs to have expressed an interest, with intermediaries believing Chelsea would prefer a permanent departure rather than a loan deal. Chelsea had been initially reluctant to allow Pulisic to join a traditional rival — particularly on loan, as United’s proposal suggested — but sources indicate the club are willing to listen to offers and to test the market.
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That has left Pulisic in limbo with less than two weeks of the window remaining. The winger featured in both of Chelsea’s Premier League games to date, each time from the bench in two appearances totaling 30 minutes. One source said Pulisic is also frustrated with coach Thomas Tuchel’s handling of the situation, not least that he has played in a variety of different positions including as a False No. 9 and a left wing-back.
Pulisic’s role this season appears to be as an impact player, but there are concerns the USMNT international could become marginalised further if Chelsea are successful in bringing in players before the end of the transfer window and his camp are thought to be seeking clarification.
Talks are continuing with Barcelona over a move for Aubameyang, Gordon, Leicester City‘s Wesley Fofana and Inter Milan‘s Cesare Casadei while a late move for Barca’s Frenkie de Jong has not been ruled out.
Pulisic’s situation may also be affected by departures elsewhere. Callum Hudson-Odoi has been told he can leave on loan while Hakim Ziyech is attracting interest from AC Milan. Chelsea will not allow all three to depart without first strengthening their forward options.
United remain hopeful a loan agreement can be reached with Pulisic, who is open to the idea of joining another club in England, but further clarity is expected on his future in the coming days. — James Olley
