Pulisic stays at Chelsea, Dest moves to Milan: What Transfer Deadline Day meant for the USMNT's World Cup hopes

The #FreePulisic movement couldn't get it done.

Reports say the winger was "held hostage", although transfers usually aren't THAT serious. What is serious is the implication this all has on the USMNT.

If Pulisic isn't the most important American player, he's certainly in the top two or three. And, with just a few months until the World Cup, he's playing sparingly, coming off the bench to play right-wingback for a Chelsea team that seemingly has no interest in using him.

Now, things change in soccer. In a few weeks, Pulisic could be scoring goals by the bunches, benefitting from a consistent run of games. However, nothing we've seen recently indicates that will be the case.

Instead, it's only gotten more complicated. The club went after Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, another attacking piece, after already signing Raheem Sterling. Rafael Leao was also linked while Hakim Ziyech, another competitor for minutes on the wing, was kept on despite links to Ajax.

The path to success at Chelsea has gotten all the more complicated for Pulisic, who could very realistically head to the World Cup lacking the confidence required for him to be the USMNT's star.

The train has reached a new station, and what a relief that must be.

Pepi's move to Augsburg hasn't gone to plan, to say the least. Some would say it's been a disaster. He has zero goals and, possibly, even less confidence as he now heads to the Netherlands on loan to try to salvage his World Cup spot.

In theory, the Eredivisie is a perfect landing spot for Pepi. The league is known for being attacker-friendly and free-flowing, but it's also a good league tactically. For a young player like Pepi that, at age 19, is in a vital stage of his development, minutes in the Dutch league should be invaluable.

As for what this all means for Pepi's World Cup hopes, that depends on the next few weeks. As things stand, Pepi finds himself in a race against time, having essentially wasted the last year of his development while squandering much of the momentum he had in the months leading up to his Augsburg move.

Can you blame him for making that move, considering the dollar figures and challenge involved? No. But was it the right move for him? Probably not. Now, this move to Groningen gives him the chance to show what made those in American soccer fall in love with his potential in the first place as he looks to score the goals required to book his spot in Qatar.

What a rollercoaster it has been for Dest over the past few weeks.

Reports out of Barcelona frequently said that Xavi was done with Dest and that the American wasn't in his plans. Reports out of Barcelona also said that Xavi was in love with Dest and believed he could play for the club.

The truth? Who knows? What matters now though is that Dest is on the move to another megaclub.

Dest has opted to join AC Milan, the reigning Serie A champions, on an initial loan with an option to buy. And so ends the Barca rollercoaster, at least for the timebeing.

For Dest, all that matters is minutes and, with AC Milan, he'll get some at a very high level. A clash with rivals Inter this weekend may be too soon for the fullback, but he does have Napoli and Juventus over the next five weeks. There's also a Champions League campaign, with Milan favored to make it out of a group that includes Chelsea, RB Salzburg and Dinamo Zagreb.

The move, in many ways, is a lateral one for Dest, who leaves a Barca club trying to break out of hard times to join a Milan one that has seemingly escaped their own downswing.

The ship may have sailed when it comes to Brooks' World Cup hopes, but you can never write anything off, can you?

The 2014 World Cup veteran has been out of the picture for the better part of a year, with Berhalter offering several explanations for his absence. Generally, the explanation has said that Brooks just hasn't shown he can fit in the USMNT's game model, while a dip in form also was used to explain why he hasn't been called in.

Knowing that he was on the outside looking in, Brooks went into this summer without a club, having seen his contract with Wolfsburg expire. He had been linked with a move to Saudi Arbaian side Al Nassr and, more recently, American-owned Spanish side Mallorca.

He's ended up at Benfica, though, where he'll get the chance to play in the Champions League. An injury to youngster Morato could open the door for significant minutes.

That may or may not be enough for Brooks to seal a spot at a second World Cup. But Benfica seems like the best-case scenario for a player to make one last push.

Mihailovic got his transfer, although it isn't for right now.

The CF Montreal midfielder will finish out the season in Canada as the 23-year-old midfielder will look to help his club continue to contend atop the East. He will then join Dutch side AZ in January on a permanent deal.

It's a deserved move for Mihailovic, a player that currently finds himself right on the fringes of the World Cup roster. On club form, the midfielder is certainly in the mix, but untimely injuries have kept him away from the USMNT.

And so his World Cup spot will largely depend on how he fares in MLS, and perhaps during a call-up for September friendlies. After that, Mihailovic can look ahead towards 2026, having already secured a move to a European league designed for his skillset and to a club that has been kind to Americans in the past.

Another one that didn't happen.

Weah was linked to Valencia right up until the final day of the window, with the Spanish side reportedly looking to sign the winger on loan. However, Lille weren't too interested, opting instead to hold onto the American winger.

Due to injuries and suspension, Weah's season hasn't really started, but he has had a fairly regular role since making the move to Lille from PSG. He featured 37 times during the club's title-winning season in 2020-21 before featuring 35 times last year as Lille fell back to 10th place.

Still, it was fun to fantasize about Weah at Valencia, a club where he would have undoubtedly been a regular following the departure of Goncalo Guedes. Weah linking up with a star like Edinson Cavani would have fun, but not as fun as seeing Weah and Yunus Musah continue to develop at the same club.

That idea is gone, though, as the young American will now look to get fit and find form at Lille before heading to Qatar.