Record Transfer Fee for American Player
Photo Credit: Independent
In what is a world record transfer fee for an American soccer player, Chelsea FC have completed a $73 million transfer for Christian Pulisic from Borussia Dortmund. Pulisic burst onto the scene as a 17 yr old for Dortmund in the 2015-2016 season. While he’s not been a constant starter throughout his tenure at the club, he’s was a super sub his first 2 seasons, a main stay starter last season and back to being a sub this year as he’s battled injury, he’s still managed 15 goals in 115 appearances for Dortmund across all competitions. While 15 goals in that many appearances doesn’t sound that impressive, it’s important to remember that again, most of these appearances were coming on a sub, his position is a winger and he’s still only 20 yrs old so the hope is that he continues to grow and improve as a player.
As a Chelsea fan, I’m pretty excited about the deal. I’m ready to see what Pulisic can do, granted we will have to wait till next season to witness him in a Chelsea uniform because part of the deal is that he’s loaned back to Dortmund for the remainder of this season. So while the deal is exciting, it doesn’t do anything for Chelsea this season, and that’s where my concern is. For a team battling for a top 4 spot, they need improvements now. I really hope this signing doesn’t do 2 things, the first is that I really hope this isn’t going to be the only worthy signing we make this January, because I could really see splashing $70+ million as the teams excuse to not address other needs like getting a striker. Because in the end this team really needs a striker, and that is by far our biggest need. The 2nd and last thing is that I hope this signing isn’t the sign that Hazard is leaving in the summer and Pulisic is just his replacement. Hazard is a top 5 player in the world who’s been rumored to Real Madrid for multiple seasons at this point, and with his contract expiring in the summer of 2020, it grows increasingly likely that he will move away from Stamford Bridge. For the sake of all Chelsea fans and our health, I’m really hoping we don’t have to witness a Hazard-less squad because it would be brutal.
Here’s some of his highlights from last year