Why Chelsea can’t afford to sell Pulisic

Robin Bairner

• 6 May 2022 19:05 BST
• 3 min read

Christian Pulisic’s future at Chelsea remains a major source of speculation as the summer approaches, with clear disquiet in the former Borussia Dortmund man’s camp.

The 23-year-old has seen his career stall over the course of the season. After illness and injury early in the campaign, he enjoyed a brief period as a regular starter around Christmas but now finds himself a regular as a substitute, often given 20 minutes here and there to impress.

His numbers for the season make for modest reading. In 34 appearances he has seven goals and four assists, though he has played fewer than 2000 minutes in total.

’Zero problems with Pulisic’ - Tuchel

Prior to last weekend’s shock defeat to Everton, the player’s father tweeted his frustration with the way the USA international has been treated at Stamford Bridge.

“The sad thing is he loves the club, teammates, and London... puts his heart and soul into being a pro. Onwards and upwards my boy... big six months ahead,” Mark Pulisic said in a tweet that has since been deleted.

Responding to that statement in his press conference on Friday, manager Thomas Tuchel offered a tight-tipped response.

“I am not concerned if the player's father says he does not love me,” said the German.

“As ever, we have our reasons to choose our line-up and at this level you will never see happy faces when not selected. Between me and Christian, we have zero problems.”

Pulisic going nowhere

Chelsea’s ownership position is such that they cannot afford to make any decisions over the future of their players with clear knowledge of who is buying the club.

Pulisic, who is under contract until 2024 and is valued at €42 million by FootballTransfers, down from a high of €74m in January 2020, is as precious as any other player on their books.

With no quick resolution to Chelsea’s off-field issues, it means that Pulisic is frozen at the club whether he likes it or not, simply because there is no problem of the Blues bringing in an alternative.