Why Pulisic’s stay at Chelsea failed.

Christian Pulisic departs Stamford Bridge after four difficult years: The reason the move to Chelsea Football Club did not work out for the American.

   

Christian Pulisic departed Stamford Bridge after four difficult years, and not many supporters were sad to see him leave. In this Article, we will attempt to find out the reason Christian Pulisic move to Chelsea Football Club did not work out for the American.

Pulisic leaving Chelsea Football Club

The American winger left Chelsea Football club for Milan, after a medical with final details discussed for the transfer. He has now followed Ruben Loftus-Cheek to the Serie A club this summer. Loftus-cheek, a Chelsea Football Club graduate that also failed to live up to expectations at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea Football Club are said to have demanded around $32 million for Pulisic and that fee put some clubs off (as well as Milan) due to Christian Pulisic's contract situation. Milan tabled a second bid for Christian Pulisic in a deal worth up to €22m  (£18.8m), after formerly submitting a $15.3m offer for the American.

How much did Chelsea Football Club purchased Christian Pulisic?

On January 2, 2019, Chelsea Football Club signed Christian Pulisic for an estimated £58 million  ($74m) transfer fee. It was a deal that also saw the American remain at Dortmund on loan for the remainder of the 2018–19 season.

How did he fare at Chelsea Football Club?

When Chelsea signed Christian Pulisic from Borussia Dortmund, expectations was towering. Former Chelsea Football Club director Marina Granovskaia described him as "one of the most sought after talents in Europe" after the deal was made public, and outlined the club's vision for the future for the American. 

At just 20, he was considered to have the potential to become an important Chelsea player for many years to come. Fast forward to 2023, four years on, Pulisic has still yet to live up to that expectations. And certainly, his time in west London is now nearly up.

Notwithstanding being handed a great deal of opportunities, Pulisic could not to make it count under Frank Lampard, Thomas Tuchel and Graham Potter, unable to come specifically close to turning into the metamorphic talent and global superstar that both he and Chelsea Football Club was hoped he could become.

             Image source: bleacher report football/Facebook 

Be that as it may, though that Some players just find it hard to fit in at one of the top clubs in English football. Pulisic can depart west London with some pleasurable memories of his own, with champions league, and Club World Cup winners’ medals and with the prime years of his career still believed to be ahead of him — but what exactly went wrong for the American superstar at Chelsea?

Let’s take a look below...

Change of Managers: 

Christian Pulisic was purely Eden Hazard's replacement, in terms of positional representation. A clear path for him to deliver on the hype was also there. 

Maurizio Sarri, who was the Chelsea manager at the time likened Pulisic to Lorenzo Insigne and Jose Callejon. Those were the two wingers who thrived in his dynamic 4-3-3 at Napoli. According to reports, Sarri played video clips showing their movements within his system, revealing how Pulisic could in similar fashion be effective.

It was an enthralling pitch, and Sarri had clearly given a level of thought to having Pulisic in his team which impressed the young Americn. This all the more made him more thrilled to join Chelsea. 

However, things did not turn out to be as planned because, Sarri was gone by the time he arrived at Cobham in the summer that followed the 2018-19 season, The Italian tactician had returned back to Italy. Every prior plan became ultimately meaningless

Out of the three coaches Pulisic has played under in his four seasons at Stamford Bridge, none were really excited by the expectations of working with him.

Frank Lampard, who was Sarri’s successor, was careful of picking Pulisic in his starting XI at first. So,between October and November 2019, Pulisic gave serious contemplation to asking Chelsea to loan him out in other to find more regular minutes in January. This was prior to going on a run of six goals in seven appearances.

When Thomas Tuchel took over as manager of Chelsea, replacing Lampard in January 2021, it was initially assumed to be an advantage for Pulisic because of  pevious experience with the German — the coach who gave him his senior debut as a 17-year-old at Dortmund. Yet it was the same old story. Their relationship appears to have never been close. What was left grew very much colder throughout their time at Stamford Bridge.

Tuchel came to a conclusion that Pulisic had not developed meaningfully. He saw him no different from the teenager he generally utilized as an impact sub at Dortmund. Pulisic appear to not agree with that. The American also did not enjoy Tuchel’s brutal man-management style. The same that in the end isolated most of the club’s other attacking players.

Injuries: 

In the 2021-22 season, Chelsea opened their 2021-22 campaign with a 3-0 win against Crystal Palace, with Pulisic getting his name on the scoresheet. But a week later, he tested positive for Covid and then sustained an ankle injury which kept him out of action until November.

On Christian Pulisic’ part, being on and off the pitch didn’t help his cause. Rhythm and confidence are always key factors to consider when analysing player performance. 

Injuries many a time robs Pulisic of the former, while he suffered suffered the latter playing for coaches who either were not convinced of his qualities or rated other players more highly.

Even when fit, Pulisic’s performances too rarely suggested a player capable of returning to the heights of his first season at Chelsea Football Club.

During the mid-season World Cup break, there was a breath of fresh air as it came at the perfect time for Pulisic. The Chelsea star recorded a goal and two assists in four appearances, and notably gave England's defence the run-around as the United states men's team. held Gareth Southgate's side to a goalless draw in the group stage. As always, he was a different player for his country. 

Their journey ended at the hands of the Netherlands, as the U.S reached the last 16 for the first time since 2020, though Pulisic and the rest of the squad gave a good account of themselves in Qatar.

But any hope he had of transferring that momentum to club level at Chelsea was dashed when he picked up a knee complaint during a 1-0 loss to Manchester City on January 6. Pulisic spent the next two months on the sidelines. 

Upon his return,  there were several players ahead of him in the pecking order as a result of Chelsea's £300m (£282m) spend in the January window.

The 24-year-old could well be set to leave Chelsea after struggling to nail down a place in the team and seeking regular playing time ahead of an important few years for the USMNT.