Chelsea are reportedly planning to hold talks with fringe World Cup star Christian Pulisic in the coming weeks over his future.
Simon Phillips has told Give Me Sport that Chelsea are set to hold a meeting with wantaway star Christian Pulisic to see if he wants to extend his stay in West London. The Blues are now apparently fearful that the USMNT will refuse to sign a new deal at Stamford Bridge.
Journalist Simon Phillips said to GMS, “They want to hold talks with him and see if he’s open to staying beyond [2024]. At the moment, they’re not getting a feeling that he’s going to do that, so I think in the summer is when we’ll really be having a conversation about Pulisic’s future.”
It is safe to say Pulisic’s Chelsea future has been well and truly up in the air for a long time now. He is not a starter for the club, and the best role that he can hope for is that of an impact substitute. On top of that, there are only 18 months left on his current deal with the club.
And there were rumours of him wanting to leave in the summer itself. Thus, all signs point toward the American ace leaving in the near future, whether it be January or the next summer transfer window when he will have only one year left on his deal.
As we near the January transfer window, the Chelsea board is set to hold crunch talks with Pulisic over his desire to continue beyond his contract term. The Blues feel the winger will not entertain the idea of signing fresh terms. In that scenario, the Pensioners will be ready to listen to permanent offers for him next summer or this January itself, rather than risk watching him walk out for nothing a year later.
Pulisic has been at Stamford Bridge for a long time and was expected to develop into a superstar for the club. As we all know, things have not quite turned out as expected, as he has had a tough time with injuries and extensive competition in his position.
And he now finds himself as a bench player, starting just three Premier League games and featuring in just over 600 minutes of football action across all competitions. Thus, his leaving Stamford Bridge next summer might be the best move for all parties as he looks to revitalise his career.
The playmaker is surplus to requirements at Stamford Bridge under Graham Potter. But there will be no lack of demand for his signature if or when he does end up leaving Chelsea, especially after his exploits in the Qatar World Cup. The 24-year-old had an impressive World Cup tournament for the United States and looked back to his best as a real talisman in the attack for his country.
He had a keen sense of how to exploit space. Back heel passes, one-touch linkups, thunderous shots, mazy dribbles, and sly through-balls—he possessed everything like a world-class winger-cum-playmaker.
However, he could not prevent the USA from being knocked out of the World Cup, as the Netherlands won 3-1 in their round of 16 encounter last Saturday. Still, a goal and two assists from four World Cup outings should be more than enough to put himself in the shop window and in the sights of European elites.
