MILAN (AP) – After struggling for playing time in his fourth season with Chelsea, Christian Pulisic finalised a four-year contract with US-owned AC Milan on Thursday.
The 24-year-old American midfielder and forward, who joined Chelsea after four seasons with Borussia Dortmund, scored 26 goals in 145 games with the Blues and won a Champions League medal in 2021. But after netting 19 Premier League goals in his first three seasons he had just one in 2022-23 – none in 20 matches after October 8. He made just two starts after January 5.
Considered the top American player with 25 goals in 60 international appearances, Pulisic was sidelined by a string of injuries and didn’t live up to expectations at Chelsea. He left the London club with a year left on his contract. His deal with Milan includes a team option for 2027-28.
Pulisic scored three goals at Burnley in October 2019, becoming the second American with a Premier League hat trick after Fulham’s Clint Dempsey in 2012. He was the first American with a goal in an FA Cup, a 2-1 defeat to Arsenal in 2020.
But his playing time dwindled as Chelsea changed managers from Frank Lampard to Thomas Tuchel to Graham Potter and back to Lampard. Pulisic said he spoke extensively with Milan coach Stefano Pioli.
“The manager really spelled out exactly how he sees me fitting in with this team and I did feel wanted at this club,” Pulisic said.
Milan is controlled by the American investment firm RedBird Capital Partners led by Gerry Cardinale, and baseball’s New York Yankees are a minority investor.
Milan is paying a transfer fee of EUR20 million for Pulisic, according to the Gazzetta dello Sport. That’s less than a third of what Chelsea paid Borussia Dortmund for Pulisic in 2019.
Pulisic is set to become the third American to play for the Rossoneri after defender Oguchi Onyewu, who appeared in one Champions League match for 31 minutes, and right back Sergiño Dest, who was on loan from Barcelona last season and didn’t dress after January 24.
Milan is a seven-time European champion and lost to city rival Inter in a Champions League semifinal last spring. The Rossoneri won the last of their 19 Serie A titles in 2022.
Getting playing time is key for Pulisic and other top US players ahead of next year’s Copa América, to be played in the United States, and a 2026 World Cup co-hosted by the US, Canada and Mexico.
“You want to be in top form,” he said. “Being here, I hope to find that again.”
Pulisic is the second Chelsea player to leave for Milan this month after Ruben Loftus-Cheek. Pulisic will also be reunited with former Chelsea teammates Olivier Giroud and Fikayo Tomori at Milan.
Pulisic will take Zlatan Ibrahimović’s number 11 shirt. The former Sweden international retired after last season.
