- American forward struggling for regular role
- Several players seeing Serie A moves mooted
- National team coach supportive of such switches
WHAT HAPPENED? The 24-year-old winger is seeing serious questions asked of his future at Stamford Bridge after struggling to nail down a regular role under a number of different domestic managers. A switch to San Siro could be on the cards, with new international colleague Folarin Balogun also seeing a transfer to Italy speculated on as he mulls over his options at Arsenal, and Berhalter would love to see as many members of his squad as possible playing Champions League football.
WHAT HAS BEEN SAID? Berhalter, who is taking the reins of the United States national team for a second time, has told Gazzetta dello Sport when asked about the speculation that continues to rage around Pulisic: “Christian plays for Chelsea. But Italy and Milan are still very attractive destinations, not least because of the possibility of playing in the Champions League. But no advice, these are personal choices. The same goes for Balogun, who is already a certainty and not just a striker of the future as I hear people say. We’ll see…”
He added when pressed on whether Timothy Weah – another of those that could be heading to Serie A – would be a shrewd addition for Juventus: “I don’t know what stage the negotiations with Lille are at, I’m a coach, not a director… But I would certainly see Weah doing well at Juventus. And I’m sure that an experience in Italy and at Juventus, who we’ve come to know better and better in recent years thanks to McKennie, would be useful for Timothy. He is a growing boy, also thanks to Lille, but I think that facing the winning mentality of Juventus would allow him to make a further leap forward.”
THE BIGGER PICTURE: McKennie is already on the books at Juve, but that may not be the case for long as the former Leeds loanee is being linked with Galatasaray. Berhalter said of those rumours: “As the national team coach I’m interested in Weston playing and competing, regardless of club and league. For the U.S. national team McKennie is very important, he is a leader, a warrior.”
He went on to say of talk that Yunus Musah could leave Valencia for Sassuolo: “I follow Serie A and Sassuolo are a club I know well, in recent years they have shown themselves to be very adept at launching talent. Certainly, if many of my boys arrive in Italy, I will often come to your side next season.”
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IN THREE PHOTOS:
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Getty ImagesWHAT'S NEXT? Berhalter, who led the USMNT to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, is poised to take the U.S. reins again after Gold Cup competition this summer and will be charged with the task of overseeing events through to a global gathering that the United States will co-host alongside Canada and Mexico in 2026.