Christian Pulisic's father insists USMNT star didn't 'disappoint at Chelsea' and reveals why son is thriving at AC Milan

With a combined 20 goals and assists this season following a summer switch from Chelsea, the USMNT winger is in phenomenal form in Milan, and is on track to be his best-ever season as a professional. His father, Mark Pulisic, spoke about his son's success with the Rossoneri this campaign, narrowing it down to the 'trust' that both Stefano Pioli and his Milan teammates have in him.

“For me it’s not true that Christian disappointed at Chelsea. He simply didn’t play regularly," Mark said on a podcast, recorded by Gazzetta dello Sport.

“Christian has had everyone’s trust. Pioli trusts him, he always lets him play and doesn’t immediately replace him if things go wrong. Then he likes Milan and he always speaks well of his teammates. Fikayo Tomori and Olivier Giroud helped him a lot when it came to choosing Milan.”

“Football changes quickly and we have understood for some time that this is a business. You can only think in the short term,” he added, though he clarified: “Let’s be clear: Christian loves Milan and wants to stay. He lives in Busto Arsizio to be close to Milanello (Milan’s training center). He’s learning to speak Italian and he gets on very well with teammates like Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Yunus Musah.”

Since arriving with the Rossoneri over the summer Pulisic - through eight months - already has the best goal-contribution record of any right winger for Milan over the past decade. He's helped them to second place in Serie A this season and into the quarterfinals of the UEFA Europa League as well.

The Rossoneri are in action Saturday in Serie A against Lecce as they look to maintain their hold on second place in the league standings. Then, they'll put their sights to Europe as they clash with Roma in the UEFA Europa League midweek.