European hopefuls Aston Villa are believed to be showing ‘concrete interest’ in former Chelsea winger Christian Pulisic.placeholder image
European hopefuls Aston Villa are believed to be showing ‘concrete interest’ in former Chelsea winger Christian Pulisic. | Getty Images/ Canva
Aston Villa have been linked with an 82-time international
European hopefuls Aston Villa are believed to be showing ‘concrete interest’ in former Chelsea winger Christian Pulisic.
The Lions are aiming to build a team that can once again secure qualification for the Champions League after a sixth place finish last season, and have earmarked Pulisic as a potential talent that could help them achieve that goal in the second half of the campaign.
Pulisic, who is an 82-time USA international, spent four years of his career in West London with Chelsea, racking up 145 appearances in total under Frank Lampard (twice), Thomas Tuchel and Graham Potter.
He arrived with great expectation after a bright start to his career at Borussia Dortmund and cost the Blues around £58m when he first arrived in 2019, but was moved on in 2023 for only a fraction of the price at £20m when he joined AC Milan.
Christian Pulisic has rebuilt his career excellently in Italy
Pulisic scored 26 times and registered 21 assists during an inconsistent period at Stamford Bridge, but he did have some incredible moments, including scoring against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu in the Champions League semi-final and even appearing as a substitute in the final win against Manchester City.
He was among the nominees for the Young Player of the Season after scoring nine times in his debut campaign in 2019/20 and had even been compared to Eden Hazard during Frank Lampard’s time as manager. Pulisic’s downfall at Chelsea was a combination of injuries, various managerial changes and a shift in structure at the football club as a myriad of expensive attacking talents all arrived at Stamford Bridge at the same time towards the end of his stay.
It’d be a little bit harsh to label Pulisic a flop due to the good times he had, but it’d also be a little bit of an exaggeration to label him a complete success. Since leaving, however, he’s definitely been a value-for-money signing at AC Milan. Overall, he’s managed 38 goals and 25 assists in 109 matches while also being nominated for EA Sports FC Serie A Team of the Season in both of the last two campaigns.
He was AC Milan’s top scorer in a tough campaign last term with 17 goals and 12 assists from 50 appearances across all competitions and has started the campaign sharply with six goals in nine appearances.
Would Christian Pulisic be a good fit at Aston Villa?
Pulisic has 18 months remaining on his contract and is believed to be considering his future at the San Siro due to his desire to play Champions League football or at the very least some form of European competition. Caught Offside reports that Aston Villa are looking at him due to his pace, creativity and excellent pressing ability. However, they aren’t alone with West Ham and also Man Utd being mentioned as potential suitors.
Ultimately, this could be a deal that’d make a lot of sense for Pulisic if they can get him at the right price. As it stands, Villa have Morgan Rogers as their main man as a No.10, a resurgent Emi Buendia playing out wide - and Donyell Malen chipping in with goals from the bench.
But they aren’t seeing much of Harvey Elliott, whose loan could be cut short, as well as Jadon Sancho, who is yet to start a league match. Both players could feasibly leave Villa in January if their loans are cut short, leaving a void in Villa’s squad. Meanwhile, Evann Guessand is yet to hit the ground running after his summer move.
Signing Pulisic would immediately offer Villa an improvement on their existing options and he’d also offer them a lot across the pitch due to his versatility to play in both wide areas and even through the centre. For the right price it could be a no-brainer.
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