There are several Chelsea players who look to be coming to the end of their time at the club, and who see the World Cup as their best chance of showing teams around the world that they can still play.
We saw Hakim Ziyech shine for Morocco today, and he’s perhaps the most likely to leave, followed closely by Christian Pulisic.
The USA star is doing his bit to lead his country to the knockout stages, and will be hoping that playing well makes a move away from Chelsea more likely too.
Manchester United are open to a loan move for Christian Pulisic, sources have told ESPN. pic.twitter.com/pNHg41HeK5
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) November 27, 2022
ESPN have claimed they have sources saying that Manchester United are considering taking the winger on loan. That would be a risky move for us and for them. We would imagine a compulsory purchase clause would be included.
Of course with no Cristiano Ronaldo around, there’s certainly a gap in United’s squad.
Could this be a switch which suits all parties?
For Christian’s sake, Newcastle would be a far better landing spot than Utd IMHO, but he deserves to be at a club where he’s wanted and appreciated. As Wayne Rooney recently commented, there remains a significant British prejudice against American football and the outrage many fans expressed at the England draw with the US serves as Exhibit A. Did England really imagine itself so far superior that a 0-0 draw with the Yanks was like World Cup Armageddon?
Apparently so, and this same prejudice has repeatedly cost Pulisic any benefit of the doubt at Chelsea—and, consequently, significant playing time. During Christian’s time at the club Mason Mount, Timo Werner, Kai Havertz (to name just the most obvious examples) have all experienced dips in form at times and yet largely continued to enjoy the confidence of the manager and supporters. None has had to fight the constant uphill battle for playing time that Pulisic has. An Englishman or German (let alone a Brazilian) can have an off performance and he’s just struggling to find his form, but a less-than-sparkling appearance from Pulisic merely seems to serve as the long-expected confirmation (for manager and supporters alike) that Americans can’t play football. How else does one explain the disparity between Pulisic’s statistical productivity and his lack of minutes? Can anyone remember the last time he started more than 1-2 consecutive games (in his preferred position)? I can’t!
So, yeah, let’s hope for everyone’s sake that he moves on to greener pastures in January (cuz lord knows I’m sick to death of hearing fellow Chelsea supporters grumbling about him), but let’s also hope that British Blues take a moment to question their (perhaps unconscious) assumptions about American footballers.