Christian Pulisic

On January 2, 2019, Pulisic signed with Premier League club Chelsea for an estimated £58 million transfer fee. The deal also saw him stay at Dortmund on loan for the remainder of the 2018–19 season. This transfer made Pulisic the most expensive American player and Borussia Dortmund's second-most-expensive sale of all time, behind Ousmane Dembélé. Upon his arrival in the summer, he spoke of his desire to replicate the form shown by Eden Hazard, and described the forward as a footballing idol.

Reports stated that Pulisic planned to cut his summer holidays to participate in the pre-season and impress the new Chelsea manager, Frank Lampard. On August 11, 2019, Pulisic made his Premier League debut for Chelsea in a 4–0 defeat against Manchester United. Pulisic scored his first goals for Chelsea on October 26, 2019, completing a "perfect" hat-trick in a 4–2 away win against Burnley. The hat-trick was the first of his career, and he became the second American to achieve the feat in the Premier League after Clint Dempsey for Fulham in 2012, as well as the youngest hat-trick scorer in Chelsea's history at the age of 21. He also became the first Chelsea player to score a perfect hat trick since Didier Drogba in 2010. Pulisic scored in his next two league outings, a 2–1 away victory against Watford and a 2–0 home win over Crystal Palace. He scored his first Champions League goal for Chelsea in a 2–2 draw away to Valencia on November 27, 2019.

On November 20, 2018, Pulisic became the youngest player to captain the United States national team in a friendly defeat to Italy. Pulisic was 20 years and 63 days old.

His low center of gravity allows him to dribble at high speeds. Since the 2018–19 season he was most often deployed on the wing for Dortmund, and this has continued at Chelsea. His adept weak-foot skills allow him to play on either side of the field. Because of his style of play, Pulisic is often subjected to fouls by opponents.

On January 23, 2017, Pulisic signed a new deal with Dortmund which would keep him at the club until 2020. On March 8, 2017, Pulisic scored his first UEFA Champions League goal in a 4–0 victory over Benfica in the round of 16, making him Dortmund's youngest ever scorer in the competition at the age of 18 years, 5 months, and 18 days. Pulisic also assisted one of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's goals in the win, advancing Dortmund to the quarter-finals. On August 5, 2017, Pulisic scored the first goal in the DFL-Supercup against Bayern Munich.

In 2017, George Dohrmann for Bleacher Report wrote, “After decades of thirsting for a player who could be considered truly world class. Americans now finally—finally!—have a player capable of making an indelible mark on the world's game.” Pulisic achieved several Bundesliga and Dortmund records; he is the youngest non-German to score in the league, the youngest player to score two Bundesliga goals, and is the youngest player to appear and score for Dortmund in the UEFA Champions League.

Born in Hershey, Pennsylvania, Pulisic began his professional career at German club Borussia Dortmund, where, after fast progression through the team's youth academy, in which he featured in only 15 youth games, he was promoted to the senior team in 2016, at age 17. He featured sparingly in his first season at the club, but his involvement increased dramatically in the following campaign, where he was a mainstay in the Dortmund team that won the 2016–17 DFB-Pokal. In January 2019, Pulisic moved to Chelsea in a transfer worth $73 million (£57.6 million), making him the most expensive American player of all time, and began playing for the club in the 2019–20 season.

Pulisic has scored 14 goals in 34 games as a U.S. international player. He has appeared and scored at every youth level and made his senior team debut in March 2016, at age 17. He is the youngest player ever to captain the U.S. national team in the modern era.

In January 2016, while with the first team in the winter break, Pulisic played the second half of two friendly matches, scoring one goal and assisting another. On January 24, a day after making his debut on the first team bench, Pulisic played 90 minutes in a friendly against Union Berlin, scoring a goal and assisting another. He made his Bundesliga debut in a 2–0 win against FC Ingolstadt on January 30, 2016, coming on as a second-half substitute for Adrián Ramos. On February 18, Pulisic made his UEFA Europa League debut as a second-half substitute in a 2–0 victory against FC Porto.

In the 2016 International Champions Cup friendly pre-season tournament, Pulisic scored in stoppage time against Manchester City to send the clubs into penalties. During his first competitive appearance in his second year with the club, Pulisic became Dortmund's youngest player ever to play in the UEFA Champions League. The following weekend he scored his first goal of the season and provided two assists in a 6–0 victory against Darmstadt 98, one day before his 18th birthday.

On March 27, 2016, Pulisic was called up to the senior team by head coach Jürgen Klinsmann ahead of a World Cup qualifying game against Guatemala. Two days later, he made his debut in that match, a 4–0 win at the Mapfre Stadium in Columbus, Ohio, as an 81st-minute substitute for Graham Zusi. He thus became the youngest American to play in a World Cup qualifier.

On September 2, 2016, Pulisic recorded two goals and an assist in a World Cup qualifying match in a 6–0 victory over Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, thereby becoming the youngest person to score in a World Cup qualifier for the U.S. and the youngest player to score a brace in American history. In the following match against Trinidad and Tobago, he broke another youth record by becoming the youngest American to start a World Cup qualifying match. In the following year of qualification, on June 8, Pulisic scored both goals in a 2–0 victory over Trinidad and Tobago. In the last two matches of qualification, Pulisic scored a goal in each: a 4–0 victory over Panama and a 1–2 defeat to Trinidad and Tobago. He finished the fifth round as the top scorer with five goals. Despite his strong performances, the United States failed to qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. The loss to Trinidad and Tobago is considered the most shambolic performance in American soccer history.

In February 2015, Borussia Dortmund signed 16-year-old Pulisic and assigned him first to their U17 squad and in summer 2015 to the U19. After scoring 10 and assisting 8 in just 15 games with the Dortmund youth teams, Pulisic was called to join the first team over winter break.

Pulisic had represented the United States at the U-15 and U-17 levels. He captained the U-17 team at the 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup, where he scored a goal and an assist in three games. During his two years with the team, Pulisic scored a total of 20 goals in 34 games. Pulisic had been eligible to play internationally for Croatia but declined the opportunity.

Pulisic made his first Bundesliga start on February 21, against Bayer Leverkusen before eventually being substituted for Marco Reus. He made his second Bundesliga start on April 10, against FC Schalke 04 in the Revierderby, playing 73 minutes before being replaced by İlkay Gündoğan. In response to Pulisic's performance against Schalke, team manager Thomas Tuchel said, "He's a teenager in his first year of professional football. His first two games in the starting eleven were in Leverkusen and here today in Schalke – not the easiest of tasks. It shows our huge appreciation that we see him as a full time player on our team. He was a valuable substitute against Werder Bremen and Liverpool. He has looked really good recently which has been proved today. It is completely normal that he could not have played with this pace and this intensity for over 90 minutes."

Pulisic scored his first Bundesliga goal for Borussia Dortmund on April 17, opening the scoring in a 3–0 home win against Hamburger SV. It made him the youngest non-German and fourth-youngest player to score a goal in the Bundesliga, at just 17 years and 212 days old. With his goal against VfB Stuttgart on April 23, Pulisic broke another Bundesliga scoring record by becoming the youngest player to score two goals in the top-flight league. The game also marked his first yellow card in the Bundesliga, as a result of a challenge on Emiliano Insúa.

In a September Champions League group stage game against Real Madrid, with Dortmund trailing 2–1, Pulisic came on as a second-half substitute and helped set up André Schürrle's late goal, allowing Dortmund to earn a 2–2 draw. In a substitute appearance on October 22, Pulisic assisted one goal and scored the equalizer against FC Ingolstadt, who were last place at the beginning of the day, to salvage a draw, coming back from 3–1 down.

Pulisic was included in the senior squad for the Copa América Centenario, which was hosted by the United States. A week later, he became the youngest player to score for the United States in the modern era, when he put home a late goal in a 4–0 friendly win against visiting side Bolivia.

Pulisic lived in England for a year at the age of seven, playing for the youth team of Brackley Town. When his father was general manager of indoor club Detroit Ignition in the mid-2000s, Pulisic lived in Michigan and played for Michigan Rush. While in Michigan, he attended Workman Elementary School. After the family returned to the Hershey area, Pulisic grew up playing for local U.S. Soccer Development Academy club PA Classics and occasionally training with local professional club Harrisburg City Islanders, now known as Penn FC, during his teen years.

Christian Mate Pulisic (/ˈ m ɑː t eɪ p ə ˈ l ɪ s ɪ k / ; Croatian: Pulišić, pronounced [krǐstijan mǎːte pǔliʃitɕ] ; born September 18, 1998) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a winger or an attacking midfielder for Premier League club Chelsea and the United States national team.

Pulisic was born in Hershey, Pennsylvania, where he spent the majority of his childhood. His parents, Kelley and Mark Pulisic, both played collegiate soccer at George Mason University and his father also played professional indoor soccer for the Harrisburg Heat in the 1990s and later became a coach at both youth and professional levels.