Christian Pulisic the only American in ‘top 150 players in the world’ as former coach reveals how street soccer helped to put USMNT ace on a path to superstardom

Few fellow countrymen are afforded such opportunities, with youngsters in the United States more likely to play basketball or baseball on local parks and playgrounds. Pulisic has always been one to break the mould.

His family headed to the UK while he was picking a sporting passion to follow, with brief visits to Chelsea's academy being taken in - where Pulisic crossed paths with Mason Mount. A professional move to Stamford Bridge was made in 2019.

Pulisic became a history-making Champions League winner with the Blues, but spread his wings again when heading to Italy in 2023, joining AC Milan. A new lease of life has been enjoyed with the Serie A heavyweights at the San Siro.

A role of club talisman has been taken on at AC Milan, with personal bests being posted on the goal front. Injuries have posed problems in 2025-26, but Pulisic has remained a model of consistency when fit.

Glenn Crooks - a legendary commentator and coach from the New York and New Jersey area that worked with Pulisic as a youngster and has closely followed his progress ever since - has told r.org of why the 27-year-old continues to set the standard for American soccer stars.

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He said: “You could almost say definitively that Pulisic is the best player at Milan right now. I think injuries have curtailed his progress, and you want to knock on every piece of wood that you have right now, because he’s been able to perform consistently now at Milan. We’d have seen this a couple of years ago if his coaches had given him more of an opportunity.

“He’s had to get physically stronger and put in a lot of fitness and strength work, he’s had to grow immensely, both as a player, as a leader, and in terms of understanding his role, knowing when to dribble, when to pass, and then finishing. Not everybody can finish, and he’s become a fabulous finisher now. It’s really wonderful to see, and I love how it all started, because it started in a less-than-organised way.

“His development started when his mother took him to England at 7-9 years of age. She was instructing at a prep school, and he was just playing pick-up soccer. He wasn’t playing on any organised teams, they were just playing pick-up all over the place.

“Look at the five best attacking players of all time, and all of them have street soccer in their blood. That’s how they got it all started, and that’s one thing we lack. We’re still far behind the other countries, but if you had to rate the top 150 players in the world, there would be just one American: Pulisic.”

AC Milan are aware of the special talent that they have on their hands and are understandably reluctant to see Pulisic leave. He has, however, delayed the signing of a new contract, leading to inevitable questions of his future being asked.

The Rossoneri remain hopeful that fresh terms can be thrashed out, but there has been plenty of speculation to suggest that the hard-working forward is registering on Premier League recruitment radars again.