Chelsea outcast Christian Pulisic has been tipped by a former USMNT star to rebuild his career by returning to the Bundesliga this summer.
The United States talisman was a forgotten man at Stamford Bridge last term, appearing for a total of just 811 minutes across 24 outings during a poor season for the club. Interim boss Frank Lampard eventually led his flailing outfit to a 13th place finish in the Premier League, with the 24-year-old having been reduced to a bit-part role.
Incoming head coach Mauricio Pochettino will be tasked with performing a clear out of deadwood within Chelsea's ranks this summer, with host of players likely to follow Saudi Arabia-bound N'Golo Kante out of the door. These measures come as the club potentially needs to balance the books after a splurge of £585.5million ($745m) on 16 new players under Todd Boehly's chairmanship.
Now, swashbuckling winger Pulisic has been backed to rediscover the kind of form that convinced the Blues to sign him five years ago by returning to the league where he made his name.
He spent four years with Borussia Dortmund, after making his debut as at the age of just 17 following his move to Europe just before his 16th birthday. In all, he made 127 appearances for the one time European champions, scoring 19 goals before Chelsea swooped in and paid £58m ($74m) for his services in 2019.
After a promising start to life in England, where he scored 11 times in 34 appearances during his maiden campaign, he was unable to match this sort of return in subsequent seasons. Furthermore, with Raheem Sterling, Mykhailo Mudryk and Noni Madueke having been signed in recent times, it appears that his days in West London are now numbered.
Former US international Jermaine Jones has opined that he would advice the Chelsea misfit to seek a move back to Germany, given his success at Signal Iduna Park earlier in his career. Taking to Twitter, he said: "I would tell Pulisic to go back and play in Germany. Bundesliga fits him the best."
Contrary to this, however, recent reports do suggest that Pulisic may be heading for a switch to Serie A this summer, with Napoli, AC Milan and Juventus having been linked with the forward. The man who fans have previously dubbed "Captain America" could well be available for as little as £20 million ($26 million) in the coming months, with only one year left on his current contract.
The USMNT star has put the speculation surrounding his future to one side in recent weeks, instead focusing his attention on his country, with his two goals in the 3-0 win over Mexico in the CONCACAF semifinal having served as a reminder of his ability. The match itself was embroiled in controversy but Pulisic put in a memorable man of the match display to book the team's place in the final.
Speaking previously to ESPN, he vowed to put a difficult season with Chelsea behind him to help deliver some silverware for the US, which he was able to achieve after the team beat Canada 2-0 to be crowned Nations League victors. He said: "It's been a really tough season for me personally and for our team of course at a club level.
"Obviously, it's been an interesting journey at club level for me. I thought it was a great couple years and the last couple years just haven't gone at all how I've planned them to be."
