Christian Pulisic will wear the No11 shirt at AC Milan as leaked images of the kit emerged online.
Despite not yet having his move as being made official, social media activity, player interviews and arrival videos have all-but-confirmed the widely understood news that the American is set to join the Rossoneri. For a fee of £18.9million ($24.2million), the 24-year-old becomes the second Chelsea player to move to Milan, following Ruben Loftus-Cheek.
With a medical on Wednesday taking place before his four-year contract is signed at San Siro, Pulisic has already posted a message to fans online. "Hi AC Milan supporters, it's Christian Pulisic," he said on Instagram. "I've just arrived in Milan, I'm so excited to be here and I can't wait to get started."
He also confirmed his reasons behind joining, saying: "I'm very happy to be here, I'm excited to start here with this historic club. It's a historic club, it's legendary and I'm really excited to come here and try and win some titles."
With a move to Italy, Pulisic is now set to follow some of the greats of Milan's history. Being handed the famous No11 shirt, as has been shown via an image of a rack of jerseys on display, he is next in line after Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, Alberto Gilardino, former Chelsea striker Hernan Crespo, Rivaldo, Brian Laudrup, Carlo Ancelotti and other legends of the club.
Pulisic wore two numbers during his time at Chelsea. First it was a continuation from his time at Borussia Dortmund with 22 but he then replaced Willian as the No10. The Brazilian had worn it throughout Pulisic's first year at Chelsea but the USMNT star was the trusted with following on from the footsteps laid by Eden Hazard, who wore it for five years previously.
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He already deals with the pressure of being the main attraction for his country, for which he regularly dons the No10, but that is currently taken by Rafael Leao after the Portugal winger signed a new bumber contract with the club.
Leao had been mooted as a potential replacement for Pulisic at Stamford Bridge after the player was involved in discussions between the two sides over a swap deal last summer. He has since committed himself to Milan in the long-term and us unlikely to be making a move to Chelsea any time soon.
Instead, as an alternative to Pulisic and Leao, Chelsea have turned to Mykhailo Mudryk on the left wing after investing heavily in him over the winter. Meanwhile they are pursuing a deal for Lyon attacker Rayan Cherki as they look to bolster their options in the frontline.
For now, though, the No11 remains open at Chelsea after Joao Felix took on the famous top that previously belonged to Didier Drogba. His exit leaves the chance for one of the current group to inherit the number or for a new big-money signing to come in and take it themselves.
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