Christian Pulisic is set to play in a different role when he joins AC Milan this summer. The American is closing in on a move to Italy following weeks of discussions between Chelsea and the Rossoneri over a deal.
Having found what is almost certain to be his last season in England to be the most challenging, the 24-year-old will soon be lining up in the famous red and black of Milan alongside former Chelsea midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek. He is joined by ex-Blues duo Fikayo Tomori and Olivier Giroud as part of a growing group of Premier League players forging new paths or career extending journeys to Serie A.
With just the one club goal to show across the entirety of a dismal 2022/23 campaign for Chelsea, Pulisic now departs with a sense of unfulfilment at Stamford Bridge. The mazy dribbling speedster that arrived in 2019 from Borussia Dortmund for £58 million ($74.4m) has rarely been seen in his four years at the club.
Despite European trophy success in the past 18 months and being the scorer of an opening goal in an FA Cup final, Pulisic's moments of sheer quality became too inconsistent as his time grew on with many still looking back to the post-lockdown period of football in 2020 as his best spell.
Now, with many years of top level opportunities still ahead of him, the USMNT star is set to try and reignite his career away from SW6 and the critical eyes of Premier League fans and pundits. However, in a bid to recharge himself, there may well be a positional difference as well.
The Athletic write that in direct conversations he held with Milan manager Stefano Pioli, the plan has been formed for the USA attacker to play primarily in central areas as a No10 with the option to drift wide. It is his favoured role and one that is commonly seen when he appears for his country.
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It is also perhaps why he has been much more prolific for USMNT compared to club action whereby he is often played as a natural wide man, seen as the answer to Chelsea losing Eden Hazard in 2019, as well as being shunted into false nine and wing-back on occassion too.
He will now face competition for attacking roles from Rafael Leao, a player strongly linked with Chelsea in the past, and must prove himself capable of tying down a spot in the frontline be it as a winger of an attacking midfielder.
Having seen Chelsea try to offer his services out to Milan as part of a swap deal for Leao, the pair will now be competiting together in a fearsome group of forwards, however, with a new £149.5million ($191m) release clause, the Blues may well have one eye on the comparable success of Leao and Pulisic to see how well judged their transfer business has been.
Mauricio Pochettino had little time to consider Pulisic as part of plans regardless but even so, the player would have likely been among the winger choices once more at Chelsea rather than an inside position. It raises the question as to whether the Blues every truly handed him the tools to succeed and may well also act as food for though for the new manager when it comes to building his squad in the remainder of the summer.
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