According to the Evening Standard, Chelsea have made an offer to sign Christian Pulisic but Borussia Dortmund are asking for a fee of £70m.
Chelsea spoke to Dortmund regarding the 20-year old USA international, but the German outfit wanted a better return on him. Pulisic has only 18 months left on his contract, but any concrete discussions for a new deal have fizzled out. It seems as though he will leave Germany, the only question is when.
Dortmund have a host of options in wide areas like Marco Reus, Jadon Sancho, Mario Gotze, and Jacob Bruun Larsen. Pulisic has not been a guaranteed starter under Lucian Favre this season and his side has been flying regardless. Dortmund are currently unbeaten in the league and sit seven points clear atop it.
Chelsea meanwhile, need options in wide areas as Eden Hazard is yet to sign a new deal. The duo of Willian and Pedro are into their thirties and youngster Callum Hudson-Odoi is the only other first-team player who can play on the wing.
Liverpool is another Premier League side targetting Pulisic and the former Dortmund boss Jurgen Klopp is keen to sign him. Chelsea do have other options, as they could turn to Eden’s younger brother Thorgan, who has been in sensational form in Germany for Borussia Monchengladbach.
Chelsea sold Hazard to Gladbach in 2015 for £5.9m, and they included a clause which would allow them to match any other bid for him. Now though, Dortmund are interested in the Belgian as well, and so things could get interesting. Chelsea could include an agreement on not matching Dortmund’s bid for Hazard in their offer for Pulisic. It may sound far-fetched at this juncture, but weirder deals have happened.
Maurizio Sarri, the Chelsea coach has refused to be drawn on the speculation. “Pulisic is a Borussia Dortmund player and I don’t want to talk about a player of another club,” he told reporters on Tuesday. “It’s not professional, I think.”
Nevertheless, given his talent and obvious potential, Chelsea are bound to be looking at Pulisic. If not in January, developments could certainly take place in the summer.
