It had seemed, in theory at least, relatively straightforward. Friends in the squad already, Champions League football waiting and one of Europe’s biggest, most recognisable clubs, playing at an iconic stadium in a resurgent league.
Throw into the mix some wealthy American owners and it seemed that USMNT international Christian Pulisic was set for a move to AC Milan that ticked every box. But transfers of big players are very rarely linear, and along have come another storied European club attempting to revive their fortunes with a different compelling offer.
The Athletic reported on Sunday that French side Lyon are providing serious competition for Pulisic’s signature after making a bid worth €25million (£21.5m, $27.3m), plus a meaningful sell-on clause that is still being negotiated.
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Lyon rival AC Milan by making €25m bid for Christian Pulisic
That proposal is at a level that Chelsea would find acceptable and they are reluctant to let the 24-year-old exit for less. Chelsea have a very good relationship with Lyon following their January signing of full-back Malo Gusto and are fond of the project being overseen by their American owner, John Textor.
It remains to be seen whether Milan will increase their opening verbal offer for the forward, which was worth €14million, but the Londoners will now want them to.
In the background, there is mid-tier interest from Premier League clubs and staying in the UK had been Pulisic’s initial preference, but tangible offers that would allow him to do so, such as those on the table from France and Italy, are yet to materialise.
So what do the contenders have to offer for a player with 60 senior caps who is ready to put his Stamford Bridge stagnation behind him in order to reset his career?
Milan appear to have developed a taste for Chelsea players, formalising their interest in Pulisic not long after luring Ruben Loftus-Cheek down a path from Stamford Bridge to San Siro recently trodden by Fikayo Tomori and Olivier Giroud.
Pulisic has good relationships with all three of those former team-mates and cannot fail to have noticed how Tomori and Giroud in particular have thrived in Italy, helping Milan to win the 2021-22 Serie A title and then reach the Champions League semi-finals last season.
Staying in Europe’s elite club competition is an important attraction for Pulisic if he does decide to leave the Premier League. Milan, whose fourth place last season guarantees a Champions League group-stage place come September, offer a chance to play a prominent role on the grandest stage in club football as he attempts to put himself in the best possible position to shine for his country at the 2026 World Cup on home soil.
But even more appealing is the football fit.
Coach Stefano Pioli has driven Milan’s interest in Pulisic and wants to use him primarily as a No 10 — the role in which he has frequently shone at international level but has rarely been trusted to play for Chelsea and previous club Borussia Dortmund.
Pulisic has only featured intermittently in four years at Chelsea (Photo: Robin Jones – AFC Bournemouth/AFC Bournemouth via Getty Images)
The idea of being such a key attacking figure in a major European side is hugely enticing. There is novelty in the mere fact that Pioli holds such an appreciation for Pulisic and has a detailed plan for how to maximise his talents.
Maurizio Sarri was the Chelsea coach who delivered a comparable pitch to the player before his transfer from Dortmund in January 2019 — but he had been replaced by the time Pulisic actually arrived six months later, having been loaned back to the Germans to see out that 2018-19 season.
Having made the bold move to leave the U.S. for Europe before his 16th birthday, Pulisic has already shown an openness to new experiences in different countries and would back himself to adapt quickly to Milan and Italian football.
Part of him has always been intrigued by the possibility of playing in all of Europe’s four biggest leagues, and Serie A would be a third to tick off, leaving only Spain’s La Liga.
A considerable reduction from his lucrative Chelsea salary is inevitable in any scenario that sees him move on this summer, and Pulisic will not let wage demands be an obstacle to an agreement with the club he wants to join. Above all, his desire to leave Chelsea is founded on wanting to play regularly and feel important to a team again. It is hard to imagine a better destination than AC Milan to help him become, at club level, the kind of talisman that USMNT have relied upon for years.
The big questions to answer now are whether or not Milan are prepared to improve their opening offer, and whether or not Chelsea are willing to compromise on their asking price to draw a line under a situation that has become complicated for everyone involved.
Chelsea old boy Giroud has thrived at Milan (Photo: Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)
Then there is Lyon.
The first thing to acknowledge is that Laurent Blanc’s side finished seventh in Ligue 1 last term, so did not qualify for any form of European competition this season. For Pulisic, who has played in the Champions League for the past seven seasons with Dortmund and then Chelsea (his only other year of senior football saw him in the Europa League with the Germans in 2015-16), that will be a major consideration. The best players want to play in the best competitions, and to do so all of the time.
Unlike Milan, Lyon have never won the European Cup or Champions League — though they did get to the semi-final stage for the second time in their history three years ago, beating Juventus and Manchester City along the way.
They have also not won the French title since the end of a seven-year era of Ligue 1 dominance in 2007-08. Like most of their domestic counterparts, they have struggled to cope with Paris Saint-Germain’s Qatar-fuelled success, but Textor aims to change that.
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Since becoming the majority shareholder in December 2022 and then taking over from long-standing chairman Jean-Michel Aulas in May, Textor has been planning for a bright new era.
Yet that push has not been without hitches so far. The Missouri-born entrepreneur took control of the club through his Eagle Football Holdings LLC vehicle, which oversees his other football investments: Premier League club Crystal Palace, Botafogo in Brazil and Belgium’s Molenbeek.
Even before the Lyon deal was finalised last year, the 57-year-old had to fight fires when one of his main funding sources pulled out during the closing stages, but Textor still assembled enough backers to get the takeover to a successful conclusion.
The investors behind Eagle Football Holdings have deep pockets and respected pedigree, and Textor needs them to hold firm since being told to find more swathes of cash to keep his Lyon vision on track. Reports in France earlier this year claimed he needed to raise €130million to avoid a sanction from the country’s football financial watchdog, the Direction Nationale du Controle de Gestion (DNCG).
It came, French media said, after his initial business plan, which owners must share with the DNCG for approval, was based on Champions League qualification. Lyon’s failure to achieve that left a shortfall. The DNCG demanded this be addressed and whether through extra funding or player sales. It has created a noise around Textor that suggests instability, with threats of official sanctions if Lyon did not resolve the situation, although he has complied with the financial authorities and is confident about the club’s future.
It is early in Textor’s reign in Lyon but his successes elsewhere — Botafogo went from near-bankruptcy to currently being seven points clear as leaders of Brazil’s Serie A 13 games into their season, Molenbeek won promotion to the Belgian top flight last month — present evidence that he can get things right.
Lyon failed to qualify for next season’s Champions League (Photo: Jean-Francois Monier/AFP via Getty Images)
Football fans in Pulisic’s homeland know all about Lyon too; especially their successful women’s team. Olympique Lyonnais Feminin surged to prominence in the 2010s with top USWNT stars such as Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe in their team. They have won the Women’s Champions League a record eight times, including five in a row from 2016 to 2020.
So for the soccer-loving audience back home, a move to Lyon would not be disappearing off the radar by any means for the most high-profile player in the U.S. men’s game.
On the pitch, Lyon have an attractive mix of pedigree and potential. Their 59,186-seater stadium, opened in 2016, can be a formidable arena. Young players Bradley Barcola and Rayan Cherki — the latter linked with Chelsea in recent days — are rising stars who have shone for France Under-21s.
At the same time their UEFA club coefficient ranking, which is based on performances in Europe over the last five years, is superior: Lyon are 26th in Europe, Milan are 37th.
Lyon’s bid could also be savvy PR from Textor — a sign to investors that his plans are still full steam ahead and those tales of financial woes are overwrought.
Just being in the conversation for a player of Pulisic’s ability could move the narrative in French media away from Textor as a struggling in-over-his-head disruptor to a more positive one. Even if he ultimately loses out to his fellow U.S. investors in Milan, Pulisic has a symbolic value and pushing so boldly to bring him to Lyon makes Textor look strong. It could be considered a no-lose venture.
If they are serious, Lyon’s biggest challenge will be convincing the player that joining a Ligue 1 club outside the Champions League trumps a Milan proposal with much more obvious appeal.
But for Pulisic, the growing competition for his signature is food for thought in the coming days as he waits to see how Milan react. Chelsea will be hoping Milan will meet their valuation.
Will it be the San Siro life and being part of the push to overhaul the likes of champions Napoli, Juventus and city neighbours Inter to once again become Italy’s pre-eminent club, while playing in his favoured position?
Will it be joining ambitious Lyon, playing for a World Cup winner in Blanc, intent on catching PSG and returning to the European competitions in 2024?
Or will another surprise bidder emerge from the shadows of the summer transfer market?
Whatever happens next, it is bound to be intriguing.
(Top photo: Visionhaus/Getty Images)
