Juventus have reportedly set their sights on winger Christian Pulisic amid Chelsea’s ongoing chaos.
Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich was sanctioned by the UK Government earlier this week, banning him from travelling in the country and freezing his assets including the club. The west London club cannot sell any more tickets for the games, its merchandise shop will be slammed shut, and will be unable to deal in the transfer market
According to Gazzetta dello Sport, Christian Pulisic is among four Chelsea players to have attracted the interest of Juventus, as the Serie A side look to take advantage of the west London club’s ambiguous situation in the summer.
Pulisic, 23, joined Chelsea from Borussia Dortmund in 2019 but his progress has been plagued by a series of injuries. The USA international has also struggled with consistency, which has seen him fall behind the likes of Hakim Ziyech, Kai Havertz and Mason Mount in the attacking pecking order.
The winger has started just 10 times in the Premier League this season, and his uncertain future at Stamford Bridge has put Juventus on red alert ahead of the summer transfer window.
Christian Pulisic to Juventus—What should the Blues’ play here be?
Due to the sanctions on Roman Abramovich, Chelsea cannot be involved in any transfer activity. It effectively means the Pensioners are under a transfer embargo, and currently, will not be able to conduct any business in the summer transfer window. Plus, the club will also be unable to hand out new contracts to players.
Amid such a perilous position, Chelsea must look to keep hold of their players, including Pulisic. The 23-year-old attacker has struggled with injury problems and consistency since arriving from Borussia Dortmund in 2019. He hasn’t managed to raise his game to a different level at Stamford Bridge as many would have expected him to do, racking up just 22 goals and 18 assists in 127 appearances.
The American’s numbers haven’t been great this season either. With four goals and four assists in 25 games across all competitions, he hasn’t really staked a claim for a starting berth under Thomas Tuchel. Thus, a change in scenery could benefit Pulisic a lot following his struggles with the Blues. However, this would cut right into the manager’s plans.
If Pulisic does depart in the summer, it will weaken the Chelsea manager’s options in attack next term. Having been slapped with a transfer embargo recently, the lack of signings would hurt the Blues dearly. It would also be a huge problem if any of the club’s attacking players get injured, particularly with Hakim Ziyech injury-prone. In such testing circumstances, one would want a bigger squad to fight in all competitions.
Pulisic might not have delivered the goods consistently for Chelsea, but one cannot underestimate his value in Tuchel’s squad. Thus, it will be important for the defending European champions to keep hold of the USA international amid Juventus interest. However, it remains to be seen how Tuchel is going to convince him to stay at Stamford Bridge after such turmoil at the club.