Borussia Dortmund Can't Sell Christian Pulisic to Liverpool for Any Price

With this year's summer transfer window in its dying moments, fans of Borussia Dortmund probably didn't expect much action involving their Black and Yellows.

After a busy summer saw the club make no fewer than 13 first-team transfers alone, any business left was likely to include players buried deep down the depth chart taking a late exit. Joo-Ho Park comes to mind, a left-back who's unlikely to see the field unless a zombie outbreak takes down Marcel Schmelzer, Raphael Guerreiro, Felix Passlack and Erik Durm at the same time.

Maybe even a player such as Nuri Sahin, who's simply too good not to make the 18-man matchday squad during what should be his prime years, could still leave the Ruhr side.

Few, however, would have expected substantial discussions about Christian Pulisic.

German tabloid Bild (h/t MLSSoccer.com's Sam Stejskal) had reported that Stoke City made an offer for the versatile midfielder, and both CSKA Moscow and RB Leipzig were interested as well, but nothing materialised.

Pulisic's father, Mark, who works as a coach in Dortmund's youth department, told the paper (h/t ESPN FC's Stephan Uersfeld): "Christian has no interest in leaving the club. He had a good half year last season and wants to continue to break through."

That was that, many thought, until a report surfaced linking the United States international with a move to Liverpool, as Tony Barrett of JOE.co.uk noted:

Thomas Hennecke of German sport magazine Kicker picked up on the story, reporting that the Black and Yellows have refused a €12 million (£10.2 million) offer from the Merseyside club. His report, however, doesn't rule out a move in the last few hours of the transfer window, specifically stating that only a loan deal is out of question.

Quite frankly, if Dortmund really are considering letting Pulisic go—especially on a permanent basis—their officials are not of sound mind. No matter what kind of offer comes in until the window closes, from Liverpool or any other club, the Black and Yellows simply cannot sell.

Having joined the club as a 16-year-old from Pennsylvania, Pulisic has quickly established himself as the best academy product Dortmund have unearthed since Mario Gotze. The 17-year-old impressed in title-winning seasons for both the under-17 and under-19 teams, earning a permanent move to Thomas Tuchel's senior squad last winter.

Debuting on January 30 in a 2-0 home win against FC Ingolstadt, the American went on to play in 12 competitive matches for Tuchel's side, including three cameos in the UEFA Europa League—one of which, incidentally, came against Liverpool.

PATRIK STOLLARZ/Getty Images

Scoring in two consecutive league matches against Hamburger SV and VfB Stuttgart in April, Pulisic became "the youngest player in Bundesliga history to register two career goals," as Bundesliga.com noted.

Deployed exclusively on the wings, where his youthful exuberance and athleticism allowed him to shine, he grew more confident with every appearance, daring more in one-on-ones and generally looking like a fully accepted member of the team by the time the season drew to a close.

His summer adventures with the United States men's national team will only have added to his confidence. Head coach Jurgen Klinsmann trusted the youngster enough to play him for the entire second half of arguably the biggest game in the team's recent history against Argentina at the Copa America Centenario semi-finals.

The next logical step at club level would be to fight for more regular playing time and places in the starting XI. Of course, that's an uphill battle at the moment.

Dortmund added three players in the summer who play predominantly on the wings, with club-record signing Andre Schurrle, Ousmane Dembele and Emre Mor making up for the departure of Henrikh Mkhitaryan, the club's best player last season.

Schurrle and Dembele seem firmly entrenched in the first-choice team for the time being, with Mor and Pulisic presumably fighting for a spot on the bench. Once Marco Reus returns to fitness, both could find themselves excluded from the matchday squad more often than not.

David J. Phillip/Associated Press

It would be somewhat understandable if that situation led to some frustration on Pulisic's part. Here's a 17-year-old whose entire football life to this point has been a meteoric rise. Going from playing against Lionel Messi in front of a massive audience in his native United States to not making the squad for a league match against SV Darmstadt may be a tough pill to swallow.

Having said that, Dortmund can't indulge the impatience of a 17-year-old. Pulisic, who'll turn 18 on September 18, has all the time in the world. Letting him leave because he's unlikely to play many games in the coming months would be a mistake.

It's not even set in stone that he won't get his opportunities. Reus is an injury waiting to happen, while Dembele looks promising but has a lot to learn tactically. Mor should arguably be behind Pulisic on the depth chart; he's a player with impressive tools but lacks basic tactical understanding at this stage.

Pulisic has a leg up on 19-year-olds Dembele and Mor thanks to having spent the second half of last season with Tuchel's team. His defensive contribution is much more solid, he knows which movements his coach wants to see and, at least theoretically, he should have a better understanding with his team-mates, not least because his German is almost flawless.

If Dortmund were to allow him to leave, it would be a devastating signal to the club's youth department. If the best academy product in years feels like there's no chance for him to break through, something's terribly wrong.

The club prides itself on its upward mobility—rightly so. Fellow academy product Passlack seems to be the latest in a long line of players who have successfully navigated the transition from promising youngster to first-team regular. Pulisic should join him soon enough; he's too talented not to.

To make it short, if Dortmund sell their best homegrown talent because they bought one too many attacking midfielders in the summer transfer window, their decision-makers should come under scrutiny.

Seeing as Pulisic is under contract until 2018, there's no reason why the club should let him go. There'll be a market for a world-class talent next year if Dortmund can't convince the USMNT man his future should be at the Westfalenstadion.

Seeing as he is a better fit for Tuchel's cultivated playing style than for the Premier League in general—and Jurgen Klopp's heavy-metal football in particular—both Dortmund and Pulisic would be better off if the American stayed put beyond this summer.

With the Black and Yellows navigating what they hope to become a long and arduous season in the Bundesliga, the Champions League and the DFB-Pokal, there should be enough opportunities for Pulisic to gain valuable experience with the first team.

Lars Pollmann also writes for YellowWallPod.com. You can follow him on Twitter.