Pulisic completes Milan transfer and rues missed opportunities at Chelsea
Christian Pulisic will attempt to revive his sagging club career at Milan leading into a home World Cup in the United States in 2026.
The American-owned club announced on Thursday that Pulisic has signed a four-year deal, with the Rossoneri retaining the option for a further season.
The 24-year-old Pulisic is considered the best US player of his generation but struggled with injuries and never fully lived up to expectations at Chelsea. He has left the London club with a year left on his contract.
“Of course there are definitely times where I wish I could’ve gotten more of an opportunity [at Chelsea] and been that guy but yeah, for whatever reason, that’s not the case and like I said, I’m just so excited for this new challenge and I’m definitely ready and up for it,” he told ESPN on Wednesday.
He will become the third American to play for Milan after Oguchi Onyewu and Sergiño Dest. Milan, who are owned by American investment firm RedBird, paid a transfer fee of 22m euros for Pulisic. That’s significantly less than the sum Chelsea paid Borussia Dortmund for Pulisic in 2019.
“I’m very happy to be here. I’m excited. I’m excited to start with this historic club,” Pulisic said after his arrival in Milan on Wednesday. “It’s legendary and I’m really excited to come here and try to win some titles.”
Despite his struggles at Chelsea, Pulisic did win the Champions League, European Super Cup and Club World Cup. He also produced other key moments which Chelsea highlighted in a statement while thanking him for his contributions.
Pulisic has played 60 times for the United States, scoring 25 times. He helped his country reach the last 16 at last year’s World Cup in Qatar. The 2026 World Cup will be co-hosted by the US, Canada and Mexico.
Pulisic is the second player to leave Chelsea for Milan in this transfer window after Ruben Loftus-Cheek. Pulisic will also be reunited with former Chelsea teammates Olivier Giroud and Fikayo Tomori at Milan.
It won’t take much for Pulisic to do better than Onyewu and Dest did at Milan. Onyewu played only 31 minutes for Milan in a 2009 Champions League match before a knee injury while on US team duty ruled him out long term. He also got into a training session brawl with Zlatan Ibrahimović before leaving for Porto in 2011.
Dest made just eight appearances for Milan on a loan spell from Barcelona last season.
Pulisic will take Ibrahimović’s No 11 shirt after the former Sweden international retired after last season.