It took Chelsea’s players a little while to warm to one of their recent signings, after the player let slip that he was completely ignored after arriving at training.
Although the west London outfit are yet to see the best of him, a lot would seem to be expected of Christian Pulisic, and yet his start couldn’t have been much worse. To the point where no one spoke to him after his switch to the club.
“It was all pretty crazy what happened. I had to fly straight from my summer break right after the Gold Cup,” Pulisic told Jermaine Jones on the 13&ME podcast, cited by the Daily Express.
“I had one week off and I didn’t really get a summer. The team had already started pre-season in Japan so I flew straight there and I had to literally fly by myself and then met the team who had flown from London.
“I had to go straight to the hotel and the next thing on the schedule was to go straight to training. I was tired, nervous and didn’t know what to think but ‘I’m at Chelsea and this is insane’.
“I got on the bus, they had just arrived as well. Everyone is half asleep, I go and sit on the bus and nobody even noticed me.
“Nobody said anything.”
As Frank Lampard looks to build a squad capable of challenging for honours, a fit Christian Pulisic could be a real asset for the former midfielder.
His technique and directness make him a dangerous customer for opponents, and it’s precisely that type of skill set that would benefit a Chelsea side looking to play on the front foot in most matches.
In order for him to be considered, however, he needs to get over his current injury niggles and prove his worth to Lampard. The former England international has shown he isn’t afraid to make the big calls and put noses out of joint, so Pulisic can expect to get his chance in due course.