Country: USA
Club: Chelsea
Position: Attacking Midfielder, winger
Age: 24
Both the American national team and Premier League club Chelsea use Christian Pulisic as a winger or offensive midfielder. Fans and other players have given him the moniker “Captain America” due to his exceptional level of play and ethnicity.
At the German club Borussia Dortmund, where Pulisic started his professional career, he quickly advanced through the team’s junior academy, appearing in just 15 youth games before being promoted to the senior team in 2016, at the age of 17.
He made a few appearances during his first year with the team, but his influence expanded significantly the following year. He was a key member of the Dortmund squad that won the DFB-Pokal in 2016–17. He placed second in the first Kopa Trophy competition in 2018, which was for the best player under the age of 21.
The most expensive North American footballer of all time, Pulisic was transferred to Chelsea in January 2019 for $73 million (£57.6 million), becoming a member of the team for the 2019–20 season. In the 2020–21 UEFA Champions League, Pulisic became the youngest Chelsea player and the first American to score in the semi-finals at the age of 21. [19] He also became the youngest player ever to score a hat trick. After winning the 2021 match, he then became the first American to participate in a UEFA Champions League Final.
During the winter break, Pulisic played the second half of two friendlies while playing with the first team, scoring one goal and assisting another. Pulisic played 90 minutes in a friendly match against Union Berlin on January 24, one day after making his first team debut on the bench, and he scored one goal and assisted on another. In 2016, Pulisic replaced Adrián Ramos in the second half.
When he made his first competitive appearance in his second season with the team, Pulisic became Dortmund’s youngest player to ever play in the UEFA Champions League when he scored in stoppage time against Manchester City in the 2016 International Champions Cup friendly preseason event.
Chelsea of the Premier League acquired Pulisic for an anticipated transfer cost of £58 million. Additionally, as part of the agreement, he was allowed to finish the 2018–19 campaign on loan at Dortmund. With this transaction, Pulisic became the most expensive American player and, behind Ousmane Dembélé, Borussia Dortmund’s second most expensive sale ever. He labeled Eden Hazard as his soccer idol when he first arrived in the summer and spoke of his ambition to play in the same manner as the attacker.
Style of play
Andy Mitten of FourFourTwo said that after being promoted to the Dortmund first squad, Dortmund manager Thomas Tuchel “saw the promise – the speed, sharpness, strength, outstanding fitness, and mature decision-making that belied his age.”
Frank Lampard, the manager of Chelsea, compared Christian Pulisic favorably to former Chelsea winger Eden Hazard in July 2020, saying that Pulisic “has a more direct attacking instinct.
He has the talent to pass through defenders and run inside the box, which is a great trait in the modern game. There is still more development to come. Christian is taking responsibility to change games.” Lampard continued, “There’s still more development to come.