Christian Pulisic could be ready to leave Chelsea this summer as the Blues look to raise funds for a transfer deal for Erling Haaland.
Haaland is emerging as a top target for Chelsea, and CaughtOffside understands that it may require selling players before they can afford to go toe-to-toe with the likes of Manchester City for the Borussia Dortmund striker’s signature.
It looks like Pulisic could be a candidate to leave Stamford Bridge, with the USA international struggling to really settle and make the desired impact in his time in west London so far.
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Despite the recent claim from Sport that Timo Werner could make way as part of Chelsea’s bid to sign Haaland, it’s also been reported by Goal that the Germany international is not pushing to leave.
By contrast, CaughtOffside understands Pulisic would be more willing to leave Chelsea this summer, so could end up playing a key role in aiding the club pursue a deal for Haaland.
It remains to be seen where the 22-year-old might end up, but he was recently linked with CFC’s rivals Manchester United and Liverpool by the Daily Mail.
Chelsea may be cautious about letting Pulisic join a Premier League rival after seeing the success enjoyed by players like Mohamed Salah and Kevin De Bruyne since they were allowed to leave Stamford Bridge at a similar stage in their careers.
Still, Pulisic could undoubtedly do a job for those sides and Chelsea might not want to be too picky about where he ends up if it can help them raise the funds to sign Haaland.
CaughtOffside understands Pulisic will not push to leave, but that there is a recognition from both sides that a departure could be the best option.
Sources close to the club have told CaughtOffside that Pulisic has never quite managed to find his feet in this team, and that may be partly down to the unstable nature of the managerial situation in his short time with the side.
Pulisic was initially signed while Maurizio Sarri was in charge, but never got to play under the Italian tactician as he was loaned back to Borussia Dortmund for the second half of the 2018/19 season.
By the time the youngster linked up with Chelsea for the 2019/20 campaign, Frank Lampard was in charge and never seemed convinced by Pulisic as a regular in his starting XI.
Things have also not worked out as hoped for Pulisic since Thomas Tuchel came in as manager, despite the pair seeming to work well together during their time at Dortmund.
Chelsea have other attacking midfield options like Kai Havertz, Hakim Ziyech and Callum Hudson-Odoi, so would probably do well to sell Pulisic if it could get them the major upgrade that they so urgently need on their unconvincing centre-forward options of Werner, Tammy Abraham and Olivier Giroud.
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