"I'm thrilled. It's one of my biggest dreams to be here and play in the Premier League. To be a Chelsea player is a huge honour and I'm super excited." Those were some of the first words Christian Pulisic uttered in May of 2019 after his £58m transfer from Borussia Dortmund.
Back then, he donned the recently released Nike home shirt for the next season, wearing a wide smile and excitement in his eyes for a new chapter. The chance to build on the excitement from North Rhine-Westphalia. There was also undeniable intrigue from those across the pond at one of America's highly-rated prospects joining one of England's biggest names.
Over three years later, it is hard to find that wide smile and excitement present. Pulisic is no longer the new injection of fresh energy. The repetitive nature of his Chelsea story, plagued by injury or a feeling that there could be more has worn out some supporters, who are now looking elsewhere for new ideas.
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His reputation has been hindered by online noise outside of his own control, or by quotes taken from his upcoming book that appeared to criticise the recently departed Thomas Tuchel, who is widely respected by supporters.
What happens next for Pulisic? Does the World Cup with his nation provide a chance for reinvention or the lead-up to a mid-season exit from Chelsea? Can the third coach at Chelsea uncover a Pulisic that can step out of a sporadic role into something more tangible?
"I recall three strong feelings from many in this country," Brian Wolff, Chelsea season ticket holder and head of Chelsea Chicago, tells football.london on the US reaction to Pulsic signing for Chelsea in 2019.
"The first was excitement over a talented American player joining a top club. The second was realism over his injury record and production at Dortmund. The last, a big dose of caution when it came to the impending circus that would follow."
That circus threatened to boil over in his first year in London, having to bide his time to fully break into the first team under Frank Lampard. But out of three seasons with the club, his first remains the most memorable. Announcing himself with a dazzling hat-trick in a win at Burnley, soon showed the anticipation inside the six-yard box that is arguably his best trait.
Ending 2019/20 with 11 goals in all competitions, nine of which came in the Premier League. The high point of which, came in the now infamous run after Project Restart in the summer of 2020. Netting in the first two games back against Aston Villa and Manchester City. There would be further direct goal contributions in six of his remaining nine appearances, leading up to the opening goal in the FA Cup final against Arsenal.
"He played like a man possessed under that lockdown run, to date his best form in a Chelsea shirt," Wolff said. "As it always has been, that run was cut short by injury. The question for years is always, 'can he stay fit to find form and produce?'"
That final against Arsenal is arguably a sliding doors moment in Pulisic's career. Injuring his hamstring minutes into the second half on a dangerous run, even getting his shot away before collapsing into the floor in agony. Pulisic would be only a number of things that would go wrong in a half that saw Chelsea lose the final, leaving a bitter taste to a mostly encouraging season.
Although the injury only took him out for two months, it severely hampered the ferocity we had seen in the winger's game. A fearlessness on and off the ball that has not returned in the same manner since.
It was at that point in the summer of 2020 when Pulisic had quickly become an inspiring figure for Chelsea on the pitch, he was affecting games, forming a good connection with an equally in-form Olivier Giroud to secure Champions League qualification during a tense run-in. The run that has been leaned onto to justify trust in Pulisic since has become a naturally laboured point the further we get away from it.
For all the issues that would follow under Tuchel, Lampard remains the only Chelsea coach so far to fully place their trust in the winger, even through the consistent injury setbacks he suffered before Lampard was dismissed in January of 2021.
An abductor tear kept him out of action from early January 2020 to the beginning of March. The world-changing event of a pandemic and the three-month period without football allowed Pulisic to recover, leading to his impressive run.
“I understand the rigours of it [The Premier League]," Lampard said in 2020. "It’s clearly the toughest league to come and play as a young player. What Christian did was have a breakthrough season. I never doubted him.”
It took Pulisic until the beginning of December of that year to score his next league goal against Leeds, the last he would score for Lampard before his former Dortmund coach in Tuchel arrived. There was some hope the change would offer Pulisic a similar opportunity given his previous connection to the German.
Despite his eventual frustration with the lack of minutes, 2020/21 is the season the American gained the most, 2,452. Pulisic also started nine of the final 10 league games, playing the full ninety in the final four. The high point came at Selhurst Park with two goals against Crystal Palace, one of his favourite opponents since arriving in England.
Quotes have recently emerged from his new book "Christian Pulisic: My Journey So Far," on the two legs against Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-final. Citing disappointment for not starting the second leg at Stamford Bridge after scoring the crucial away goal in the first.
"What happened before that game was hugely disappointing for me," Pulisic wrote. "l had a really good first leg performance and our following match was against Fulham in the league. Tuchel told me that he was resting me for the second leg and as a result I didn't play a single minute in the Fulham game.
"Then on match day of the second semi, Tuchel tells me he's changed his mind and he's going with Kai [Havertz]. I honestly was dumbfounded and very disappointed. I thought that I'd earned a start and, most importantly, he had assured me previously I was going to start."
Pulisic then referred back to the goal in the first leg, detailing how he ignored Tuchel's instructions from the sidelines.
"As I take off on the run, I hear Thomas Tuchel yelling from the sideline. 'Christian, stay in the pocket, don't make the run!' But I just had the feeling I'd find the space and get on the end of the pass, so I continued the run."
Pulisic was influential in both games, coming from the bench to set up Mason Mount's goal to seal Chelsea's place in the final, looking like an inspired choice from Tuchel. Again Pulisic had shown glimpses of clear talent but that high point contrasted with weeks of underwhelming displays in an underperforming attack. It was not the emphatic impression he had left under Lampard a year earlier.
His third season was initially plagued by another injury to his ankle, but there was undeniable opportunity once he returned. Pretty much staying fit for the rest of the campaign up until now. The contention among a run of six-straight starts across the Christmas period in the Premier League did not all come in his favoured left-wing position. Filling in as left and right wingback given the ACL injury to Ben Chilwell.
This was something not only Pulisic had to deal with given his younger peer, Callum Hudson-Odoi, had frequently been deployed as a wingback by Tuchel among other academy players shifted around depending on the game.
The signs of growing frustration began to emerge in the spring. Following the 1-0 defeat to Everton, his Dad Mark took to social media to reflect disappointment, tweeting: "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.." The tweet was quickly deleted.
But Pulisic would again find opportunity under Tuchel in the closing weeks, starting in the Champions League first-leg quarter-final against Real Madrid and the FA Cup final versus Liverpool. Some disappointing misses in the final did little to redeem the frustration of two years previous in the same game.
Five days later, Pulisic would be filmed by a fan present showing clear signs of frustration on the bench after being substituted against Leicester, prompting Mason Mount to lean over and console his teammate.
Heading into this past summer, all the noises around the player suggested the possibility of an exit. With the £45m arrival of Raheem Sterling, Pulisic had only been handed more competition in an attack that was lacking a consistent end product. But little materialised, the strongest being linked with a loan to Manchester United before the window shut. He saw the trio of Romelu Lukaku, Timo Werner and Callum Hudson-Odoi all depart either permanently or on loan.
With the opening weeks of the season not going well for Tuchel in terms of results and performances, coupled with Pulisic not starting any of the Blues' first five league games, the noise from his home nation began. Not only from a flurry of online accounts but from American media critiquing Tuchel for the lack of minutes months before the World Cup begins.
"The noise is driven by a lot of factors, none more so than American fans ahead of the World Cup wanting him to play regularly. And to those fans, his family, American media, sponsor interests, podcasts - Christian is their golden goose," Wolff explains on the noise.
"It’s inconceivable to them that, in their world where Christian is a superhero player, he’s just another talented player at Chelsea who has to prove himself. Those groups predominantly aren’t Chelsea supporters, they’re not invested in the Club or its community, probably never will be. They’re focused on one player and if they can stick the blame on the Club to get them closer to what they think they will achieve: minutes, manager sacking, an exit, etc. They can and will."
Pulisic's success and failure at Chelsea cannot be confined to one individual or factor. Injury, form, positioning, coaching and, probably not accounted for, the increased competition compared to what the international stage brings.
USMNT coach Gregg Berhalter said that the appointment of Graham Potter could mean "more opportunity for Christian, then it’s positive because he’s a guy that’s proven that he can perform at that level."
Pulisic did not start any of Potter's first three games but did benefit from the rotation at home to Wolves in the fourth last weekend. And for the first time this season, the narrative around Pulisic revolved around something he had actually done on the pitch.
A neat combination with Mason Mount before bursting into the box, composing himself before casually lifting the ball over Jose Sa to score his first goal of the season.
That goal put him top at Chelsea for most non-penalty goals in the Premier League since 2019, with Mount the closest. The goal was his 20th from open play in the Premier League since October 2019. The goal also made Pulisic the first from his nation to net 20 in England's top flight.
It is hard to know where the Pulisic story goes next. His most ardent fans will attest that he is a talent that has been wasted at Chelsea, but that does not correlate with performances that have objectively been disappointing.
For every Real Madrid or Crystal Palace display, there has been a run of games where he has failed to produce enough to justify consistent trust. He is by no means alone in that bracket, but that cannot be the go-to comeback whenever a discussion over Pulisic's place at Chelsea is scrutinised.
At times it feels like Pulisic is severely miscast. A winger who is too erratic on the ball to be the guy capable of driving from deep and dribbling past opponents with ease. More often, his best moments have come inside the six-yard box anticipating where a ball is going to land. That is probably not the glamorous role of responsibility he is given for his nation but one where he looks more consistently effective for Chelsea.
It is ironic that Raheem Sterling is now at Chelsea, a player who Lampard challenged Pulisic to emulate during his lockdown run in 2020. "If he looks at players around him that have made that sort of a jump, he has the ability like Raheem Sterling to produce numbers from wide areas, like [Mo] Salah and [Sadio] Mane," Lampard said. "He understands the work that needs to be done to do that. He definitely has the talent, he needs to get to that level."
For a variety of reasons, not all of which are in the player's control, few can legitimately argue that Pulisic has taken massive strides forward at Chelsea. There have been moments sprinkled inconsistently that have lured people in and made them feel he is a talent worth persisting with. But the ongoing noise around him has not helped his reputation or the feeling that his future best lies at the club he proclaimed was a dream to play for three years ago.
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