New boy Pulisic reveals owner Abramovich came into dressing room to give his seal of approval
The USA forward, 20, lit up the Red Bull Arena on Wednesday with two goals and an assist in his new club’s 5-3 win over RB Salzburg in front of the Russian billionaire. Abramovich went into the Chelsea dressing room to congratulate Pulisic afterwards. The £58million man, nicknamed Captain America by the Blues’ Twitter feed, said: “It’s great, he told me, ‘Welcome to the club’, just being nice.” Abramovich had homed in on Pulisic like one of the laser-guided passes with which Ross Barkley set him up for his first goal.
The understanding between the pair looks set to undo Premier League defences over the coming season. Pulisic said: “He’s an easy guy to play with. I wasn’t sure he was going to see that pass for the goal. But he picked me out from I don’t know how far away. It was perfect. We had a good connection.
“It’s not just him. There’s guys with amazing quality.”
Pulisic, determined not to be compared to predecessor Eden Hazard, is one of nine different Chelsea scorers in pre-season.
“It’s what I’m out there to do,” he said. “I’m in an attacking position. I want to score, I want to help with assists. My work defensively is important too.
“I’m not trying to fill Hazard’s gap, he was an unbelievable player. I want to be my own player, do the best I can.
“It’s pre-season now and I still have my opportunity to prove when the real season comes around.”
Pulisic made his Chelsea debut as a substitute in the 1-0 defeat by Kawasaki Frontale on the club’s tour of Japan.
He arrived fresh from the Gold Cup, at which his US side lost the final 1-0 to Mexico. “That was a tough one,” he said. “In the end, Mexico played a good game and probably deserved to win.
“Luckily, I have this new challenge to set my mind on and we have a rematch with Mexico in September, so hopefully we’ll take care of business then.”
He made his first Chelsea start in the 2-1 win over Barcelona, impressing in the 60 minutes he played.
Pulisic said: “This team has a lot of quality. I can help with it, for sure. I can mix with these guys well, we can score our goals and do our thing.” so many