Olivier Giroud wooing Christian Pulisic at AC Milan

Christian Pulisic looks set to leave Chelsea this summer. Not in a dramatic way, but in what feels like an inevitable conclusion to a rather quiet and slow downward spiral.

While Pulisic has battled his fair share of injuries, his involvement has steadily decreased over the past few seasons, ever since those heady days of Project Restart in 2020. This year has been the worst, with less than a thousand minutes to his name across fewer than 30 appearances so far — both career lows since his debut season at Borussia Dortmund in 2016. He’s made just two starts in the last four months.

So, despite the new American ownership, America’s biggest non-handegg football star might be on the move. As with most of our players, arranging a transfer for the 24-year-old won’t be simple. We don’t have much leverage and we pay some of the highest wages.

But presumably Pulisic’s also willing to go and see if he can fulfill his promise and potential somewhere else. He’s tried Germany and England; how about Italy?

Former Chelsea teammate Olivier Giroud certainly wouldn’t mind a reunion at AC Milan.

“I think everyone would like [to see Pulisic at Milan]. He’s a big name in Europe, so that would help us. He is that kind of player with great skills, with great talent. He is a cheerful boy, always smiling. We laughed a lot with him.

“Our understanding on the pitch was also excellent, a bit like with Eden Hazard, even though I played less with Christian. We knew how to find each other.”

-Olivier Giroud; source: CBS via Football Italia

Giroud and Pulisic were certainly instrumental to our 2021 Champions League triumph, and Giroud is working on a repeat of that with Milan right now. They face bitter in-city rivals Inter (and Romelu Lukaku) in the semifinals.

Maybe they can use all this UEFA money to lure Pulisic to Milan indeed.