American soccer legend Brian McBride believes that Chelsea signing Christian Pulisic will be able to cope with the demands of the Premier League. The Blues signed Pulisic from Borussia Dortmund in January and immediately loaned him back to Dortmund until the end of the season.
Pulisic is definitely a talented young player. Despite being just 20-years-old, he has already made more than 100 appearances in all competitions for Dortmund and scored 17 goals in the process. Most players around his age are still working their way into first-team action.
Pulisic is also currently the face of American soccer and was arguably the one shining star for his country during their dismal 2018 World Cup campaign which ended with the Stars and Stripes not playing in the World Cup for the first time since the 1986 tournament.
However, it appears that Pulisic was signed by the Blues for marketing reasons as well. Manager Maurizio Sarri has even admitted that he was not aware that the club would sign Pulisic, as reported by Goal.
Another interesting aspect surrounding the signing of Pulisic is that he has not been playing regularly this season due to the emergence of English youngster Jadon Sancho. It is fairly unusual for Chelsea to sign a player who is not playing regularly let along shining.
McBride who played in England with Preston North End, Everton and Fulham, however, believes that the player has what it takes to be a success in the Premier League.
“With the speed of the Premier League, I think Christian Pulisic will fit in and settle in well. He adapted very well as a young player in Germany and in the Champions League. He hasn’t shown any weaknesses so far,” McBride said.
“Right now, he’s probably not in the best form of his career as he isn’t playing each week, but the talent is there and his thought process is very quick.
“He’s a very mature young player and has a desire to continually improve. When you have that kind of mentality, you can deal with the physicality in the Premier League and at a team like Chelsea this will help him settle in.”
