Moving to Liverpool is no priority for in demand Pulisic
Borussia Dortmund’s Christian Pulisic is one of football’s most highly rated youngsters, a point underlined on Monday when the 20-year-old American forward was runner-up to Kylian M’Bappe in the inaugural Kopa trophy for Under 21s.
The new trophy, named after the 1958 Ballon d’Or winner Raymond Kopa, was awarded during the Ballon d’Or ceremony and voted for by the previous 33 Ballon d’Or winners. Justin Kluivert of Ajax was third with Liverpool’s Trent AlexanderArnold sixth.
Contrary to recent reports, Pulisic, who is contracted at Dortmund until June 2020, has not held new discussions over the past days with his club about his future – although the player himself confirmed that this might happen during the January winter break.
Liverpool’s Jurgen Klopp, Dortmund manager when they signed Pulisic, is a longtime admirer, but while the American would like to play in England’s Premier League in the future, reports that he has prioritised a move to Liverpool over other clubs are wide of the mark.
Aside from Liverpool, Chelsea have also shown a strong interest in the attacking midfielde, while Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino is also keen.
Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri has refused to be drawn on the speculation. “Pulisic is a Borussia Dortmund player and I don’t want to talk about a player of another club,” the Italian said on Tuesday. “It’s not professional.”
Closer to ‘home’ for Pulisic, many accurate reports emanating from Germany have Bayern Munich, Bundesliga champions for the previous six seasons, prioritising Pulisic as their No 1 signing for next summer.
They are expected to move for a player who has made 23 appearances for the United States, scoring nine goals, after 34-year-old Arjen Robben leaves at the end of the campaign.
Pulisic has no interest in leaving current league leaders Dortmund this season and is believed to be grateful to the club that gave him his big break in European club football.
He is concentrating on winning the Bundesliga for the first time where Dortmund hold a seven-point lead over second placed Borussia Monchengladbach and are nine points clear of fourth-placed Bayern.
Pulisic has had an up and down season, with niggling injuries meaning he had to sit out international call ups in September and October and he has not started any of the past seven league games.
He has started in the last three Uefa Champions League matches including the 4-0 home win against Atletico Madrid and the 2-0 reverse in Spain.