Frank Lampard considers Christian Pulisic to have “so much talent” and believes the United States international can get “better and better” as part of an exciting young Chelsea side.
The 21-year-old put in another impressive showing for the Blues on Thursday as they helped to hand the Premier League title to Liverpool with a 2-1 victory over Manchester City at Stamford Bridge.
Pulisic had seen his debut season in England disrupted by untimely injuries heading into a coronavirus-enforced break.
He has, however, been among those to benefit from a period of lockdown, with a three-month hiatus allowing him to work on his fitness.
The USMNT star has returned to action with goals in back-to-back outings against Aston Villa and City, with a six-point haul allowing Chelsea to cement a standing inside the top four.
There is the promise of much more to come from Pulisic, and the Blues as a collective, with Lampard excited about what the future might hold.
He told reporters when quizzed on a big-money addition from 2019: “Christian came in last summer. Lot of talk about it. He didn’t really get a break when he got in the team. He was playing really well and gets a really tough injury.
“I wanted to protect him a bit against Villa, see that he could make an impact. He did that.
“I always planned to start him against Man City because I know what he can bring in these sort of games and he brought it. He did really well.
“He needs to keep working, he’s a young player but he’s got so much talent and he can get better and better.”
While Chelsea still have work to do in 2019-20, as they chase down Champions League qualification and FA Cup glory, attention has started to drift towards next season.
Ambition has been shown in the transfer market when tying up deals for Hakim Ziyech and Timo Werner, with Lampard hoping to push the Blues back into title contention during his tenure.
He added: “There is a clear gap and it won't happen overnight with one or two signings. There's a lot of work that needs to be done.
“Liverpool and City have been works in progress for a few years now and they are getting a lot of success, a bit of success now.
“I'm not getting carried away. We can get better. We can be better on the ball. We can have more possession.”