Christian Pulisic’s stellar transition to life in Serie A could reportedly lead to a contract extension at AC Milan.
AC Milan is preparing to extend Pulisic’s current contract to June 2028, Corriere dello Sport reported. Pulisic’s current contract is set to run through May 2027, but his impressive debut Serie A season might lead to the Rossoneri sealing his signature for an additional year.
Pulisic made the permanent move to AC Milan from Chelsea last summer and has excelled in Stefano Pioli’s squad. The U.S. men’s national team star has totaled 13 goals and eight assists in 41 combined appearances this season, scoring in three different competitions.
He recently netted his 10th Serie A goal of the campaign in last weekend as AC Milan defeated Lecce 3-0. Pulisic’s latest contribution led to added praise from Pioli over his smooth transition to the Italian game.
“I’ve had many video calls to explain the playing style and I rarely get the wrong sensation from the players,” Pioli said transcribed by Football Italia. I knew Pulisic’s quality, but when we talked on a video call, I sensed something very positive. He was very eager, curious, interested in everything I had to say
“He doesn’t talk very much, but it’s the attitude that shines through from a person,” he added. “His attitude is fantastic, he is an exemplary professional and hard worker who will help the team to get stronger.”
Pulisic and AC Milan resume their competitive schedule Thursday when the Rossoneri hosts AS Roma in UEFA Europa League quarterfinal first leg action.
It’s a message from the club that says – we value and appreciate you. For someone like Pulisic, this vote of confidence means everything as he’s never had that in his career. And the fans have embraced him. And this is Milan we are talking about – one of the great clubs in world football.
IV,
Lampard gave Pulisic his chance at Chelsea and initially, Pulisic paid him back by being Chelsea’s best player when the EPL returned from COVID in 2020.
Pulisic’s time at Chelsea was primarily derailed by injuries. His unavailability due to injuries is what led Tuchel to not play / trust him. When healthy, Tuchel gave him playing time, including starts in their Champions League winning campaign.
Additionally, when Pulisic did play, he did not consistently perform well. When factoring in the other player options at Chelsea, that also led to his departure from the team.
Recognize.
Vacqui,
At this point, Pulisic is pretty much a finished product, and he will be 26 years old this year. The clubs that can pay stupid money for a player are not going to spend it on Pulisic. No way Milan gets stupid money for Pulisic.
Up to this point, Pulisic has had a good season at Milan and I’m happy for him. He is in a better environment for him now than during his time at Chelsea. There are four main reasons for this…Pulisic has stayed healthy, consistently played well, the Serie A competition is not the same as the EPL, and Milan is club with limited resources, so they don’t have another winger that has challenged Pulisic for playing time.
Pulisic is more likely to see out his contract at Milan and head back to the MLS in 2027 / 2028 when he is 28 / 29 years old than he is to get sold for stupid money.
Recognize.
2tone has it right. Milan is likely to be his last European team. MLS will come in in 2027 / 2028 and give him stupid money.
“No way Milan gets stupid money for Pulisic.”
It’s called stupid money for a reason. And it happens a lot.
Skim through EPL transactions the last 5-10 years. You won’t have to look far. Leeds spent around 30 million for 1 goal and 3 assists from the coachable Brenden Aaronson.
“2tone has it right. Milan is likely to be his last European team. MLS will come in in 2027 / 2028 and give him stupid money.”
Maybe.
Maybe not.
Nobody predicted Salah and DeBruyne would come back from their Chelsea failures as they did. Two -Three years ago no one seriously thought Messi would come to MLS.
To an outsider like me the professional club goals CP11 has left are to win a League Championship and I suspect win the Champions League one more time. The only other thing he needs is to prove that his one season in Milan was not an aberration. If he maintains his current level at Milan until 2026 that should give him about three seasons of consistent good form at a high level. That’s a good start.
Whether they keep him or not, it’s a move made in confidence, investing in, locking down an asset you believe has and will continue to increase in value at today’s price.
good for him. hopefully this quiets the halfwits who take the coach’s side reflexively. remember how lampard and tuchel supposedly had him correctly assessed? now lampard’s out of work and rumor is ACM is working on an extension.
likewise the club form folks. been on a roll in serie A but after a good fall set of friendlies we got none of it for NL.
IV,
Bullshit.
It was Fat Frank who pushed CP22 to score more. And CP 22 did come through for him. He’s the guy who gave CP the 10 jersey to reward him, a big deal in teams that are not collegiate, or high school teams.
Frank was fired for reasons that had little to do with CP.10
CP10’s biggest problem was the unfortunately timing and the repeated nature of his injuries. The way that worked out he had little time to recover and regain his form before getting hurt again. All the coulda, woulda, shoulda in the world does not alter the fact that CP 10 did not play as well as CP 11 does today.
And like it or not, at Chelsea if you don’t come back from injury and be in great form immediately it could be a real long time before they give you another shot. That’s the deal at a club like Chelsea.
If you don’t like it, don’t go there.
CP 10 needn’t be ashamed of his failure there. Mo Salah and Kevin DeBruyne failed the same way.
You could form a couple of pretty good teams using rejects and surplus from the Top clubs of the EPL
The CP11 you see now at Milan was not the same player you saw at Chelsea. I know it’s against your religion but players change and evolve over time. Sometimes they even improve.
Tuchel may not have had that much confidence in CP10 and maybe Tuchel is a dick but then Tuchel had a lot of alternatives to CP10. For all the shit y’all give Tuchel he and CP10 won a Champions League together. Forget about Kirovski, CP10 remains the only American player to do that while actually playing on the field and who knows how long that will be true?
The best thing about Milan is that they are poorer and play weaker competition. And they needed a boost. They HAD to be right about CP10 and had to trust him.
Fortunately for all concerned CP11 came through.
As JR pointed out, Milan want to sweeten his deal because CP11 is eventually going to get sold, hopefully for stupid money. If he has a great Copa America, it could happen then . More likely it will happen after 2026.
I doubt it. Nothing wrong with staying put and becoming a Milan legend. Milan historical is a massive club. And they have resources again to become a legit force going forward.
“Milan historical is a massive club”
Milan are also the club that unceremoniously kicked, arguably, their best, most legendary player ever, Paolo Maldini, to the curb. They treated him like shit as if his name was Duane Holmes and not Maldini.
After the playing career is over, being a “club legend ” did Maldini no good and it won’t do Pulisic any good either.. This is about money.
If Pulisic plays as well as we all hope he does, Milan may not be able to resist the stupid money thrown their way.
Pardon me if I think Pulisic will probably keep all his options open, as he should.
That puts him at 29 going on 30. Have to think MLS will try to lure him that summer. My guess ultimately is MLS will have a legit shot at him the summer of 2030 after that WC he will be 31 going on 32
Or they could sell him in ’26, after the WC. After being one ACM’s better players for 3 years and then leading the USA to victory in the World Cup, his value will skyrocket. At 27 – 28, he’ll be at his peak, and by extending him a year, ACM can get a higher fee for him.
Have a feeling AC Milan will be his last European team. Can’t get much bigger club than Milan. Would love to see him become a Milan legend. No reason to bounce around if yiu are happy and producing. Milan have the resources in place again to have another lengthy spell at the top of Serie A and push for Champions League trophies.
Good for CP he deserves it he has been on fire this season.
I like the hard worker, thorough professional, great attitude description. That’s the way all Americans should present themselves. You read about a lot of top athletes with arrogant attitudes, it’s nice to see this kind of description of Pulisic.
GET YOUR PAPER, CP!!