Christian Pulisic Agrees Chelsea Transfer: Is He Ready for the Premier League?

In the summer of 2016, Liverpool made an offer of £11 million for Christian Pulisic. There was a long-term vision to integrate him into the squad, bring him through as a first-team member and ease him into Premier League life without expectation or pressure.

The offer was rejected, and in the time that has passed, Liverpool's outlook changed. Jurgen Klopp, the man who first introduced Pulisic to the Borussia Dortmund first team, has built a side on Merseyside that are now leading the table and looking like they could win the title. As a result, he decided at the start of this season that their pursuit was up—Pulisic's name was crossed off their list of targets.

Since Liverpool's initial bid, Pulisic's value has soared, and we now have confirmation of a £58 million transfer to Chelsea. His huge price tag makes him a bigger signing than Fernando Torres, Diego Costa or Eden Hazard in terms of money spent, and when he arrives in London in the summer, there will be a weight of expectation.

Pulisic, aged 20 and with 23 international appearances for the USMNT to his name, has his chance to shine on the biggest stage of all. The big question: Is he ready for it?

It has been a strange season for Pulisic. He has started just nine of Dortmund's 23 matches across Bundesliga and the Champions League, scoring twice and adding two assists. Part of the problem has been with muscle injuries, but his game time has also been limited because of the great form of Jadon Sancho, the exciting 18-year-old signed from Manchester City.

Sancho left City because he was not getting a chance in the Premier League, where it was perceived he was not quite ready. Strange, then, that Pulisic is heading in the opposite direction at a time when he is behind Sancho in the pecking order.

Kevin Hatchard is a Bundesliga commentator who has seen close up just how Pulisic has found himself on the fringes at Dortmund.

"He has been edged out of the first-team picture by Sancho, whose consistency has taken everyone by surprise," Hatchard tells Bleacher Report. "Sancho operates in the right-sided role that Pulisic excels in, so the American's been given just a handful of chances to shine, and he's looked like he's been a bit too desperate to impress each time."

Abel Meszaros is an analyst at Sport 1 and an expert on German football for Bundesliga Fanatic, and he feels the excitement around Pulisic has faded at Signal Iduna Park.

"Many Dortmund fans, and one suspects also people in the club, have soured on Pulisic—who is yet to crack 500 Bundesliga minutes this season. He lost his starting spot not only to Jadon Sancho but to Danish winger Jacob Bruun Larsen—a team-mate of Pulisic since BVB U17s," he explained.

"[Manager] Lucien Favre has even preferred to use Raphael Guerreiro over Pulisic at times. It speaks volumes of the difficulties for Pulisic this season recently that, as they played three Bundesliga matches in six days, he started and was invisible against Fortuna Dusseldorf—the only loss in a flawless fall season for Dortmund.

"That start was his first league one since late September against Leverkusen, where he struggled against Brazilian left-back Wendell, who was rated as the worst performing defender in the Bundesliga by Germany's prestigious Kicker magazine. 

"He gave way to Jadon Sancho on 70 minutes and the rest, as they say, is history. The Englishman, who had been Pulisic's understudy in the previous games, came up with two gorgeous assists and Dortmund won 4-2."

Pulisic is a likeable guy, and anyone who comes into contact with him in a professional sense talks of his maturity and the lack of any ego. He has the personality and character to adapt quickly to life in London, and he retains a close relationship with family in America. His father, Mark, continues to play a big role in helping to guide him. 

Yes, he has struggled this season, but Chelsea's scouting of him goes back years. Recruitment staff were undeterred by the fact he was not getting the game time he might have expected, and still there is an expectation that Pulisic has a huge future ahead of him. 

"There's still so much we don't know about Pulisic's future—he is still only just out of his teens—but Dortmund were right to cash in on a player they deemed as not a cornerstone of the franchise, especially with the club's history of developing young talent over the last 10 years," adds Sport 1 analyst Meszaros. "Chelsea, and most English clubs on the other hand, can spend in a much more cavalier manner and will no doubt use the marketing aspects of the Pulisic deal to its fullest.

"While there is some truth to the 'win-win' phrase that BVB's Christian Pulisic used to describe the deal that will take him to Chelsea in the 2019/20 season, Dortmund are certainly the bigger winners of the two clubs."

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They will consider themselves winners because they get to keep the player for this season's title push, where they hold top spot, and also collect a huge transfer fee. Chelsea fans will now begin to keep a close eye on his performances, no doubt.

In the U.S. he is viewed as the player who takes the sport to a new level. U.S. soccer fans have been waiting for a moment like this, when a talented product who spent his early years developing on American soil, gets a shot with an elite club in England.

Roger Gonzalez, a writer for CBS Sports, told B/R: "It's an extraordinary move, but one that isn't surprising. Having fallen behind Jadon Sancho at Dortmund, signs have pointed at an exit for most of the season. He's the third-most expensive player in Chelsea's history and shatters the transfer record for an American player.

"With that comes more pressure, but he's a player unlike any American we've ever seen and has the potential to be world class. With the presence of the Premier League in the United States and the supporters Chelsea have here, it's a move that makes sense for all parties."

Bundesliga commentator Hatchard has hope, too.

"Pulisic still has huge potential, and he should thrive in a 4-3-3 formation that he's familiar with. I think he'll do really well. Sarri's system and style should suit him down to the ground."

Bundesliga writer Chris Williams has a similar feeling. "He hasn't managed to hit the highs seen under Thomas Tuchel 18 months ago," he explains. "But his arrival at Stamford Bridge next season should see a reinvigorated player thrive on the wing. He'll still need development time, but with the right nurturing he could easily become world class in five years' time."

Five years is a long time in football—Sarri may not even be in charge at that stage. But Matt Law of the Telegraph reported how Chelsea wanted him even before Sarri took over in west London. There is hope that Pulisic becomes one of the club's great success stories, but progress is needed.

One Dortmund source told Bleacher Report that Chelsea will need to work on specific areas of Pulisic's game to fulfil his potential. He is dynamic and often decisive in the final third, but the need to help the team before that stage is seen as the area they are likely to focus on—particularly how to make him more influential with the ball when he drops further back. 

But, as the source added: "His mentality is very impressive, he will make this move work for him."

Pulisic seems happiest when driving forward, and Meszaros explained: "Pulisic is an elite ball-carrier and great dribbler, leading in the number he attempted in Bundesliga last season. He can create efficient shots and finish quite well with both feet. In addition, he rarely takes bad shots from outside the box and is useful in open play."

In an interview with Jack Pitt-Brooke of The Independent in November 2017, Pulisic explained how he had to be strong-willed to make his name in Germany after joining Dortmund. 

"Coming here, nothing was easy," he said. "I worked for it all. What I learned is that nothing is given easy to you. Nothing was going to be spoon-fed to me. That's why it was a huge step in my development, and the perfect environment for me." 

Those close to Pulisic insist he knows he is not the finished article, and that he realises how far he still has to go to win over those who doubt his ability to become a top player in European football. 

He has his own expectations, brings his own pressure and is motivated to make sure he proves himself at the top of the game.