Top Stories

Report: Pulisic considering transfer or loan away from Dortmund

Christian-Pulisic-Dortmund-Getty-1

Christian Pulisic has risen to prominence with Borussia Dortmund, but it appears the U.S. Men’s National Team forward could be ready to take the next step in his young professional career.

According to German site Sport1, Pulisic is considering a transfer or loan away from the club in search of more playing time. Recently, the 17-year-old forward was left off of the club’s matchday roster for Sunday’s German SuperCup loss to Bayern Munich. Pulisic did feature for the club throughout preseason, scoring the lone goal in an International Champions Cup clash with Manchester City last month.

Pulisic broke through into Dortmund’s first team in January and played 12 total matches for the German powerhouse. In those 12 matches, Pulisic contributed a pair of goals, becoming the youngest non-German and fourth-youngest overall player to score a goal in the Bundesliga.

However, the club has recently added several players capable of playing out wide following the departure of incumbent starter Henrikh Mkhitaryan. Recent signings Mario Gotze, Andre Schurrle, Ousmane Dembélé and Emre Mor could all push Pulisic further down the pecking order as the club looks to challenge Bayern for the Bundesliga title.

The 17-year-old has earned six caps with the USMNT and scored his first professional goal in May against Bolivia. Pulisic was a member of Jurgen Klinsmann’s roster for the Copa America, where he made a pair of appearances throughout the tournament.

What do you think of the news? Should Pulisic seek a move elsewhere? What leagues or teams would make sense for the young star?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Has the feel of an agent plug. Rumors can lead to offers as teams had probably assumed he was not on the table.

    He can’t command a first team move to a first division club. He’s 17 with no history of longevity and no track record of being a regular player in a top professional division. Wherever he goes he’s gonna have to fight for time. I’d prefer it be at BVB since Tuchel has already shown a willingness to integrate him in meaningful matches, but I wouldn’t begrudge him the chance to step down a level and get constant minutes if HE felt it was the best thing for him to do.

    I personally think training with a top tier team could be more beneficial to his development than slogging it out in a lower league with players who don’t match his skill or speed of thought just for the sake of conditioning. He clearly belongs on the pitch with top quality players.

    As for his club situation impacting his role with the national team, Klinsmann has shown he is willing to involve players who aren’t features for their clubs (Orozco in the CA for instance). He needs to get the kid involved regardless. A good show for the national team could open doors for his club situation.

    Reply
  2. well damn. if the original source is credible–i didn’t see any quotes from pulisic, or anyone else for that matter–then that’s an interesting situation.

    my first thought was, he’s too young to be complaining about wanting a bigger role. but then, even at his age, he could probably compete for a role in just about any squad in the world.

    the main thing going against him is the prejudice against his age–even with the usmnt, you had commenters saying that he should be limited to cameos solely due to him being young, and nothing to do with his talent–and dortmund seems to be pretty good at playing youth, so i don’t know that he would fare much better at other teams of the same level, especially on loan.

    kid’s got ambition, at the very least.

    Reply
    • It’s not “prejudice.” It’s an understanding, as bottlcaps explained in another comment, that the 17 year-old physique doesn’t respond to punishment like an adult. If he plays at top level, the intensity leaves him at a greater risk for injury. Obviously not every player is the same, but it’s not simply about whether he has the skills, mind, or psychological maturity to play — he absolutely does. It’s about keeping him healthy and managing the career arc so the he best fulfills his massive potential.

      Reply
      • We don’t and that’s the point. Assume he’s a normal 17 yo top athlete and manage accordingly.

        And again, very much doubt this article is based on accurate info about the player’s state of mind.

      • guess i should’ve been more explicit about what i was saying, because yes–there is a prejudice against age, although maybe that’s not the most accurate word.

        if i read the original source correctly (and if it’s true, which i doubt), pulisic simply wants a chance (similar to last year), and he doesn’t think he’ll get it at dortmund with the new players coming in. unless you think that tuchel played him too much for his fragile little body to handle last year, that’s not what i was referring to.

        the prejudice is more what we saw with his usmnt callup–i don’t think anyone would argue that pulisic’s physique couldn’t have handled a single start–or, to take a high-profile instance from long ago, how alan hansen said alex ferguson couldn’t “win anything with kids”. if a manager plays an experienced player and it backfires, then people get mad at the player and maybe the manager too. if the manager plays a youngster and it backfires, then the manager looks like a fool.

        this leads to managers going with the “tried and true” over options who might very well be better. it’s actually not limited to age (or soccer) at all, but widespread throughout sports: managers make the conservative choice (even when evidence points to the other choice being clearly better) to avoid derision that would inevitably come their way if things go south. the physical makeup of your average 17-year-old is simply a red herring in this case.

  3. A good loan wouldn’t be that bad, if he could crack Liverpool’s 11, klopp did bring him to bvb and highly rated him. Not saying he would be starting just saying if he would it would be an ideal situation

    Reply
    • Interesting. I like the coach, but will he get more time with Liverpool than DvB? would imagine that if Sturredge is injured, CP will play more, but that’s a gamble.

      Reply
  4. Has anyone introduced this kid to Mallory Pugh yet? These two eventually need to get together and make a bunch of babies, like, IX of them.

    Reply
  5. He’s gotten a taste of top level football in the span of half a season when you consider he got games in the back end of the last Bundesliga season and the Copa America and he wants more. It doesn’t do him any good if he sits the bench for a good portion of the season or is relegated to just Cup matches. He has ambition and serious talent and it’ll only he realized if he is consistently playing. Can’t be mad at this mentality because if we’re being honest, he can help the full national team out big-time with Russia only 2 yrs away but he needs to be playing which I’m sure is again his mentality.

    Reply
    • He needs to be thinking longer term and, frankly, a bit more selfishly than “what’s best for the USMNT is 2018?” He is 17. Will be viable for 2022, 2026, and maybe 2030, in terms of age. OK to slow it down. If BVB and Rennes had agreed on a fee for Dembele in January, he might not have seen the first team.

      Reply
      • The part of my comment about his National team aspirations were my own wishes and maybe naivety but considering he hasn’t looked out of place in any of the games he’s played in for club or country i would bet its on his mind. Why slow it down though when you have found success at this level, at this age?? Not many teenagers are doing what he is doing this early in their careers. Pulisic is an anomaly of sorts and we US fans get juiced up when we see real talent but the kid can play and maybe this play for a loan or transfer is about his future and not just for the now. We don’t see the inner workings day to day at Dortmund and he may see the writing on the wall with all of the transfers they brought in. It’ll be interesting to see what happens either way.

      • Disagree. Carpe Diem. His career can either end at any moment because of an injury, or has either a serious injury where spends the next two-three years trying to recapture his form or a series of nagging injuries. Remember Josh Gatt? Mark Pelosi? Joe Gyau? Terrence Boyd? Bacon?

  6. Give me a break. Pulisic is still only 17 YEARS OLD. He is not going anywhere else for a while. Tuchel will not give him a full first team spot because, as a 17 years old, he has not built up enough stamina to complete a season of League, Cup and CL games and stay healthy.
    Expect Tuchel to give him enough games this season to make him happy. He will turn 18 in September, that is still very young. The piece in the German mag, was just clickbait.

    Reply
    • People doubting the fact that he is considering leaving are being silly. Yes he is (almost) 18. 18 is young. But it isn’t “too young” somehow. He has shown pretty clearly that he has value as a starter right now, but somehow he should put his progression on hold for 2 years hoping that BVB don’t bring in yet more players? Just to be clear BVB brought in Dembele… and Gotze… and Schurrle. There’s a reason he didn’t make the gameday squad and that reason isn’t going to go away. Playing with the U19s is what non exceptional players do. He needs first team minutes and, presumably, he knows he isn’t going to get many of them with this team. Right now he is something like 9th in line for one of the front 4 spots (and they aren’t going to play him in the middle or up front).

      Sure it is “okay” for him to slow it down as he is young… but why would he want to? That kind of thinking makes no sense. If he can get reliable first team minutes at a bundesliga club it is as close to a no-brainer move as there is.

      Reply
      • As a former coach at athletes at the elite level, I can say, in general terms, it’s pretty common knowledge that young athletes do not have the ability at 17 years of age to handle long term stress to their bodies and are apt to be fatigued earlier and recover later than athletes who are older. A common issue with general athletic fatigue is a propensity for injuries. Tuchel is a smart coach, well versed with common coaching methodology from the DFB, he is looking out for athletes in the long term. The team has been, and always will be, very deep, and competition for every spot is what makes BVB such a power house. Pulisic knows he has to be a better player tomorrow and cannot rest on the fact that he is a young “starlet”, it means nothing to the coaching staff at BVB. Pulisic is not the type of athlete that needs his ego stroked through constant attention and demanded playing time. The fact that he got the playing minutes on the first team as he did, speaks volumes about his playing ability and ability to rise to the top, no matter who the competition is And because there are so many games in the season (remember, the Bundisliga takes about a month off during the winter)resting and giving limited minutes, especially to young players, is smart

        Tuchel is keeping the lid on Pulisic because of his age, not his past, present or future playing ability, or competition for a spot.

      • It makes a lot of sense, actually. He lucked into his role last year because the team sold Jonas Hofmann in January for an are-you-kidding offer and Januzaj was sent packing. They couldn’t close on the players they wanted. Thus, Pulisic got an opening and to his credit, played very well in limited action. But he is 17. Too much too soon can take a physical toll. Playing at the highest level possible is fine, but in moderation. BVB have plenty of matches to go around and Tuchel likes Pulisic. Best for him to get a smattering of first team matches, rather than trying to force a 17 year-old into more playing time with a potentially shitty organization. I’m not convinced he would start for the best of the smaller BL clubs (Köln under Stöger, Mainz), and some others like Augsburg and Ingolstadt lost their coaches. You don’t want to stick your prize 17 year-old with a crappy team influx – that’s what happened to Julian Green. And at 17 there’s a benefit to managing his minutes against grown men. Everyone around the USMNT has preached patience. There’s a reason.

        Also: yes, the article is just clickbait. Until one of the local Dortmund outlets has it, or someone like kicker, ignore.

      • He’s played meaningful minutes in Copa America. He looked good in a WCQ, although it was against mediocre Guatemala. Two goals in 12 Bundesliga matches is credible. He deserves regular minutes based on what he’s done since January on the BVB first team and MNT. Whether that’s at BVB or a loan is unknown. However, if he is going the loan route, I hope he lucks into a Yedlin situation where he gets to play a lot and improves rather than a Julian Green situation at HSV.

  7. If Pulisic wants to challenge for a significant role with the USMNT in the coming year he has to get competitive minutes at the club level. The attacking options for the US have increased significantly over the past 18 months. With the return of Jozy, Boyd, Johannsson, & Rubin from injury….Wood having a breakout season last year….Morris performing well in his rookie MLS season….Dempsey & Zardes performing well for their clubs….Gooch beginning to emerge @ Sunderland, Green starting to crack the roster @ Bayern, with other young prospects (Wright, Perez, Akale) on the rise. It looks as if everyone will need to be in form to secure a roster spot.

    It’s looking like stiff competition going forward.

    Thankfully this also means the end of seeing Wondo suiting up.

    Reply
  8. Good. If I was him I would be pissed. He goes out and shows he can play and then BVB rewards him buy going out and buying a truckload of guys who play his position. Yea he is only 17, but he can play and if he stays at BVB, barring significant injuries to multiple guys, it will be a wasted year for him riding the bench.

    Reply
    • This is kind of silly. He did not show he could carry the load for a CL team, and he is not quite at the level of a Dembele. Dortmund holding off on buying proven players to hold room for Pulisic after losing Mkhitaryan would be insane. They have their own interests. Itms not all about the US-MNT.

      They also have on the order of 30 matches in the next four months. So there will still be opportunities. In my view, the best thing for Pulisic would be to split time between the big club and U19 or BVBII. He is too young to worry about starting at top level.

      That said, if he insists, Freiburg is a great spot with an outstanding coach.

      Reply
  9. hard to say what is better. I doubt that Dortmund would sell him. A loan could be a disaster if he sits on the bench (or worse some other teams reserves) like Green did.

    Reply
  10. love his eagerness to get on the field, and he is buried at Dortmund this year but at 17 years old training with the full team, playing U21, etc is just fine! that said he is good enough to start at just about any bundesliga2 side.

    Reply

Leave a Comment