Move over Juventus, we have a new front-runner for Chelsea attacking midfielder Christian Pulisic. It is a fellow Italian club, AC Milan, who are in talks right now, according to the London Evening Standard.
AC Milan are also moving closer to a done deal for Ruben Loftus-Cheek right now as well, so it could work out that these two Chelsea men will remain teammates in Milan.
There is a long list of Chelsea misfits destined to leave this summer, with Pulisic and RLC right near the top. A host of Blues have already moved on, with four going to Saudi Arabia alone.
Chelsea to AC Milan has been a pipeline of sorts in recent years, with defender Fikayo Tomori and striker Olivier Giroud making the switch.
Pulisic has also been linked with Napoli, Newcastle and Manchester United in the past year or so, but Milan seems like a perfect fit, provided they can agree on a transfer fee.
The asking price for Pulisic is reportedly set at €25m (£21.4m/$27.3m), but Milan believe they can bring that down, given the American’s contract status.
He has only a year left, and he won’t be re-signing, so Chelsea must make concessions, otherwise they risk losing him for nothing next year.
We’ve seen Chelsea drop the price on a couple of other players, in that same situation, earlier this summer transfer window.
However, they did pay Borussia Dortmund $73 million, still the most ever for an American player, back in 2019.
Stamford Bridge is trying to recoup as much as they can of that. Pulisic has said that he has to go somewhere that provides regular playing time.
“It’s absolutely a time where I need to figure out what’s going to be best for my future and be somewhere where I can go and play and be trusted and feel good in what I’m doing,” proclaimed Pulisic to ESPN.
“I want to find that joy at a club level again, for sure.”
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
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