England boss Gareth Southgate has admitted USMNT star Christian Pulisic is someone his Three Lions side will have to be 'ready' for in Qatar.
The World Cup is now under a fortnight away with the Three Lions boss expected to announce his 26-man squad on Thursday. With Iran, USA and Wales the early tasks for England in Group B, Southgate and England will come to to toe with Pulisic's USA on November 25.
Chelsea winger Pulisic is a star name for his nation but the current US captain has not yet made a lasting impression on Blues boss Graham Potter having only made three starts in the Premier League so far this term. Pulisic has been linked with a move away from Stamford Bridge ahead of the January window and Southgate admitted he sympathises with his situation - the 24-year-old having already played under three different managers since moving to Chelsea from Borussia Dortmund in 2019.
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"I obviously watched him [Pulisic] a fair bit at Dortmund as we had Jadon Sancho there at the time and then moving into Chelsea, I think that adaptation from the Bundesliga to the Premier League isn't straightforward for a start,'' Southgate told ESPN.
"The level of the biggest games is similar if you're playing Bayern Munich or [Red Bull] Leipzig, but then when you drop down the league, there's a big difference between the spending power in the bottom half of the Premier League where they can basically take players from some of the biggest clubs in Europe and the bottom half of most of the other leagues in Europe where that depth isn't there."
"Of course, he's had two or three coaches to deal with, so I think there's been moments where he's looked like he's on his way, he's flowing and he's got a coach that believes in him and he's had to deal then with setbacks with injury,'' he added.
"He would probably feel he hasn't got quite to where he wants to get to yet, I'd imagine, but he's a very good player and is a player when you're looking at the opposition team sheet, he's someone you've got to be aware of and got to be ready for."
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