Pundit Noel Whelan has claimed that Christian Pulisic will be sold by Chelsea in the summer.
While managing to score six goals, the former Borussia Dortmund winger has not established himself as a starter in Thomas Tuchel’s side.
The USA international has featured for the Blues 22 times in the league this season, but only 13 of those appearances have been starts.
When he has started, the 23-year-old has not always had the luxury of playing in his favoured positions further up the pitch, having slotted in at times in central midfield and even wingback, as per WhoScored.
In terms of the attacking options at Stamford Bridge, Mason Mount, Hakim Ziyech, Kai Havertz, Romelu Lukaku, and Callum Hudson-Odoi all have higher WhoScored ratings, which has led to Whelan claiming that Pulisic will be a “casualty” this summer.
The former Leeds striker told Football Insider:
“Pulisic can be a game-winner for Chelsea.
“But that being said, he doesn’t play an awful lot of football – and when he does, he’s not consistent enough. He’s not Thomas Tuchel’s first choice.
“I think there’ll be a lot of changes at Chelsea this summer. This still isn’t Tuchel’s side – and he’ll want the opportunity to bring his own faces in.
“Pulisic could be a casualty of that. They’ll be looking to sign an upgrade, I’m sure – and they need to if they’re going to challenge Liverpool or Man City next season.”
TIF’s thoughts on Whelan’s Pulisic claims…
Even with all the downsides, the three-time US Soccer Male Athlete of the Year has some positives to take from this campaign.
He has averaged 0.42 goals per 90 minutes for the Blues in the league, which can only be bettered by Lukaku and Mount in the club.
The winger, who also goes by the nickname “Captain America”, also brings qualities off the pitch, something highlighted by his former international coach Jurgen Klinsmann last month when he described the Chelsea wide-man as a “leader figure”.
“I think he went through an outstanding process over the last couple of years and he’s definitely the leader figure for the American national team going forward and he was it already over the last two or three years.”
However, with reports of the Blues looking to sign attacking options such as Raheem Sterling, selling Pulisic, who has a market value of £40.5m, could fund new faces appearing at Stamford Bridge this summer.
AND in other news, Tuchel now eyeing highly-rated £27m-rated “tank” as ideal Rudiger replacement at Chelsea…
