Liverpool manager, Jurgen Klopp has let it be known that he is interested in Borussia Dortmund’s rising star and United States of America international, Christian Pulisic. Speaking to the press recently, the German tactician said, “I know Christian. I liked him since he was a kid. He’s a fantastic player, it’s deserved people think highly of him, and in Germany, it’s the same. If he wants to play in England he has the chance to do so, but he’s at a really good club already. He had not his best season last year but he was a decisive player [for Dortmund].”
This is not the first time that Liverpool have drawn links with the 19-year-old winger. Pulisic was strongly rumoured to be one of Philippe Coutinho’s replacements at Anfield in the past. The possibility of the move looked even more likely considering Jurgen Klopp’s previous connection with Dortmund. However, the Reds manager admits that getting Pulisic might be difficult in the present market. Klopp added, “He has a contract at Dortmund. That’s the first problem. I like him, but we respect contracts and there’s no market I know about him. We did our business and Dortmund did theirs. All good.”
Liverpool have already made four additions in Alisson Becker, Fabinho, Naby Keita and Xherdan Shaqiri during this summer window so far. Overall the Reds faithful and the manager seem happy with their acquisitions in the transfer period and might just be ready to charge ahead for the upcoming campaign.
However, there is no harm in making further additions. Pulisic is one of the brightest young talents in Europe and is already being talked about in the same conversations about future stars. He appeared in 42 games last season and scored 5 goals while also registering 3 assists. As reiterated by Klopp, this past season was not his best but it was certainly impactful for the German heavyweights.
Standing at 5 feet 10 inches, Pulisic has all the right traits of succeeding at an elite level of football. He has pace, technical abilities, balance and footballing intelligence to really drive a team’s attack. He can take on defenders on the dribble and also formulate attacks for his team.
Pulisic is primarily a winger who can appear from either side of the pitch. The central attacking midfield role is second nature to his creative instincts. Since the departure of Ousmane Dembele for Barcelona, the Pennsylvania-born winger has taken up loads of responsibilities in the offence.
However, he might not receive such rewarding minutes with the Merseyside club. Klopp heavily relies on the talents of Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane on the wings and has also just added Shaqiri. Pulisic might have a lot of potential for the future but will not necessarily be an immediate upgrade to the aforementioned names. Maybe he is better off with Dortmund for the time being.
