Christian Pulisic’s career at Chelsea so far hasn’t worked out as the player or the club would have hoped so far. But his issues have been with fitness, not with his quality.
When he’s been on the pitch he’s had some superb games, and it should be remembered that it was his spurt of brilliant form during “Project Restart” that fired Chelsea into the Champions League which they eventually won back in May.
It was often said that the Blues had only signed him to increase their profile in the United States, and while that may have played a part in the equation of how much they were willing to pay for him, he’s not just here for the ride.
He’s not the only US star making waves in Europe, and we’ve seen the likes of Weston McKennie and Gio Reyna breaking out in recent seasons.
The next stars are out there in the MLS, and one of the hottest prospects out there are the moment is Ricardo Pepi. The FC Dallas striker is only 18 but already looks the part physically. Already questions are being asked whether he’s ready for European football yet.
One man who can answer some of those questions is Brad Friedel, an experienced former Premier League player who has seen plenty of Pepi in his native country.
“He burst onto the scene and he has the ability to play in most countries in Europe because of his style,” Friedel said in an interview to GOAL in association with Betway.
“He is big, he’s strong, he has got some pace, good feet, good finisher, so you could see him in the Premier League, in the Bundesliga, you could see him playing in Holland, in Spain and Italy. It seems like he could adapt to any league.
“Watching him, it seems like he has got just about everything and now needs all the experiences and games, needs to play with and against the best in the world to really see where the ceiling is.”
Chelsea is a major step up for any player, let alone a teenager with no experience in a top league. But if the Blues are keen on his skillset, we can certainly see them buying him and then sending him to another team on loan – perhaps in the Championship or in the Bundesliga where we’ve seen plenty of American players have success.
Friedel seems to agree:
“There are a lot of good landing spots for him. It doesn’t have to be Germany but there have been a lot of successful, especially young players, that have gone to Germany.
“It’s all about what the deal is and where the kid wants to go. I don’t know what his mentality is but there are some wonderful clubs in Germany that would be fantastic stepping stones for him.”
We will be keeping a close eye on his progress.