Moving On: USMNT Midfielder Christian Pulisic Signs A Four-Year Deal With AC Milan (Italy)

 

    I have long said that Christian Pulisic is the greatest American male soccer player that we have ever produced. The USMNT captain and midfielder is still only 24 years old even though it feels like he has been around for much longer than that. Today, his long rumored transfer from Chelsea (England) to AC Milan (Italy) was finally confirmed as he signed a four-year contract with the Serie A giants. If you think that going from one of the top clubs in the Premier League to AC Milan is a lateral move, then you have not been paying attention to Chelsea lately. They finished in 12th place (out of 20 clubs) last season and after a revolving door of managers, Pulisic was barely getting any playing time so it was time to find a new home and a fresh start. 

    Christian, his parents and whoever smartly advised them were way ahead of the curve when he was growing up in Hershey, PA as they made the fantastic decision to move him (along with his father) to Germany when he was a teenager and where he could train full-time with the Borussia Dortmund academy team rather than dominate stateside and eventually what, go to college and star in MLS? After four seasons in the Bundesliga where he scored 13 goals, he earned a four-year deal with Chelsea where he ended up scoring 20 goals. It would be silly to label him a bust there as he was part of a Champions League title club in 2021 but based on injuries and signings of other talented guys that play similar positions to him, he found himself mostly on the bench last season when it all fell apart for the Blues. 

        The other teams that showed the most interest in Pulisic this time around were reportedly Juventus (Italy), Lyon (France) and Galatasaray (Turkey). He rightly rejected a move to Lyon which would have been a backwards move for his career and needless to say, Turkey is not where its at either at this point. You won't find many more powerhouse historical soccer clubs than AC Milan who have won the Champions League seven times (the 2nd most behind Real Madrid) and an amazing 19 Serie A titles with the most recent coming in 2022. Furthermore, they lost to their chief rival Inter Milan in the Champions League semifinals this past spring so they are not far very away from gaining additional sacred hardware. Not for nothing, I would also say that getting away from the rough and tumble style in England should also sneaky help the more technically sound Pulisic who is listed at 5-foot-10 but only 150 pounds. 

    Adapting to a new country, city, language, club, teammates and league no doubt will pose some serious challenges for Christian at least in the beginning but thankfully he has some friendly faces on his new team so he should not feel alone by any means. English midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek-his former Chelsea teammate-also recently signed with The Rossoneri. Additionally, USMNT defender Sergino Dest (on loan from Barcelona) is still there along with another former Chelsea teammate and French striker Olivier Giroud who played a key role in his recruitment. USMNT head coach Gregg Berhalter notwithstanding, the team is unquestionably making incredible strides globally like never before. There are American players in all the top soccer leagues around the world. Still, we are not and we will never be known as a true soccer factory like Brazil, England, Spain, etc. That means that our homegrown prodigies like Pulisic are so precious and therefore we want to see him succeed at the highest level, especially as he enters what should be his prime. If he gets his club career back on track, it would be hard to quantify how much that will influence future American kids from getting into soccer and sticking with it rather than choosing other sports over it.

Real Madrid Vs. AC Milan This August At Yankee Stadium

I am a pretty big fan of European soccer clubs doing summer tours in the United States, it gives newer soccer fans a taste of what the top teams around the world look like; even more so when they play in historic, non-traditional venues like Fenway Park or Yankee Stadium.

This August 8, Real Madrid will face AC Milan. That's right, Real Madrid head coach and superstar Cristiano Ronaldo will be in the Big Apple as the Spanish giant travels across the U.S to play one of Italy's top teams.

Real Madrid is slated to play at the Los Angeles Galaxy on August 2, against Juventus in Las Vegas, NV (which could be brutal given the desert heat) on August 5 and they wrap things up in Philadelphia, PA with an exhibition against Celtic on August 11. This will be the third straight summer that Real Madrid has used a preseason tour of the U.S. prepare for its grueling La Liga regular season.

AC Milan will play Chelsea on July 28 in Miami and they have another match in Pittsburgh, PA on August 4 against an opponent to be determined.

If you're wondering, there has never been a soccer game at Yankee Stadium (which opened in 2009). Chelsea faces Paris Saint-Germain on July 22 in what will be the first soccer game there, a prelude to Real Madrid vs. AC Milan. Over the last few years, there have been college football games-(Notre Dame vs. Army) and the Pinstripe Bowl-in the Bronx but this should bring a much more diverse and lively crowd since they'll be drawing from the biggest city in the U.S. that is chock full of every nationality you can think of.

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Barcelona: US-bound in summer of 2011

Not that you need anymore reason to look forward to next summer already but you have a little more incentive since it was announced that Barcelona is hitting the United States for three stops in 2011.

The only bad news for people in New England (ie. most of our readers) is that they're not coming to Gillette Stadium. Nope, they'll play Manchester United on July 30 in Landover, MD. They take on AC Milan August 3 in Miami and conclude their visit with a match against Club America (the Mexican club) in Dallas on August 6.

The Spanish club also said it will play preseason games in Munich, Germany and Split, Croatia.

The club hopes the six-date tour, which includes three matches in Europe before the team departs for the U.S., will net Barcelona $8.1 million. Matches are being arranged in conjunction with Major League Soccer's Soccer United Marketing and the Creative Artists Agency.

Contracts for venues and opponents have not been finalized.

Barcelona toured the U.S. as part its preseason preparations in 2008 and 2009.

Now comes the only bad part.

The Blaugrana are likely to be missing star forward Lionel Messi, right back Daniel Alves and midfielder Javier Mascherano because of the Copa America in Argentina, which ends July 24. Messi and Mascherano are regulars on Argentina's national team and Daniel Alves on Brazil's.

Gooch might have the worst agent in the world not named Scott Boras

I'm all for honoring contracts and being good to your club (seeing is how my professional career went so far) but AC Milan and American defender Oguchi Onyewu might have taken it a step too far.

Gooch has decided to sign on for another year with AC Milan-taking him through June 2013-but the extra year won't cost the team anything. Is this real life?

Somewhere Jerry Maguire weeps.

Onyewu missed all but one match last season with a knee injury.

In a note announcing the extension, Milan called Onyewu's move "exemplary," adding that he "deserves sincere congratulations."

Onyewu had left knee surgery Oct. 21, seven days after tearing his patellar tendon during a World Cup qualifier against Costa Rica.

He joined AC Milan last summer from Belgium's Standard Liege but played in just one competitive match for the Rossoneri, appearing as a 60th-minute substitute against Zurich in the Champions League on Sept. 30.

It's going to be a long summer in the Beckham mansion

Proving that money can't buy everything, David Beckham's recovery from his torn Achilles tendon is taking longer than expected, two months to be exact.

This means that Becks will be out until November, all but ruling out a return to the Los Angeles Galaxy unless they make a deep playoff run. Can we finally cut loose from Beckham in the MLS experiment? It didn't work, I have no problem admitting that.

He's always been a great teammate though to his countrymen and he's planning on traveling with the English national team to the World Cup in South Africa. For a team that's already had so much drama before the pressure has even really started, his presence could be a nice distraction. He was trying to be the first English player to compete at four World Cups for the Three Lions.

"My mentality is to kind of push it and get moving and running and soon as possible. But it's an injury that has to take time to heal," Beckham said in a separate TV interview. "It's frustrating. It's obviously disappointing because I've been working for the last two years to get into the English squad [for the World Cup]."

Despite the injury, Beckham is set to travel with England to the World Cup in South Africa. England opens against the United States on June 12.

"At the moment, it's just getting the motion back into the ankle, the tendon, because it's still repairing," Beckham said on the MLS website. "I'm trying to get mobilization back into the ankle."

D.C. to be overrun by greasy Italians

It was announced today that D.C. United will host AC Milan on May 26 at RFK Stadium in an exhibition match.

That marks the first time the clubs will have played each other.

D.C. United president Kevin Payne said Monday the game will be "a great test for our players." He also said D.C. United could add games against "two other major European clubs."

The game is less than three weeks before the World Cup so AC Milan won't have any of its stars who will be with national teams. In other words, get ready to see a bunch of scrubs and young guys that you've never heard of but that are better than anybody D.C. United has to offer.

Say it ain't so Golden Balls!

Amidst all the John Terry/Wayne Bridge drama that's playing out with England, a pretty good story was quickly picking up steam: former captain David Beckham looked poised to make one last run with the Three Lions at the World Cup, a shocking development since he had seemed done on the international scene for the last few years.

Sadly, that dream looks to be over since Beckham tore his achilles playing for AC Milan today and reports are already saying he's out for South Africa.

Love him or hate him, you have to admit that the world's most famous player makes for some great theater. He had a million hairstyles, he's married to a bat-shit crazy former Spice Girl (with absurd fake boobs), he has sons named Brooklyn and Romeo and he's covered head to toe in tattoos.

So no Victoria Beckham in the stands with all the other juicy English wags (hello to Gerrard, Rooney and Crouch's ladies) this summer although I wouldn't be surprised if she showed up to steal their thunder.

Anyways, this is a sweet highlight video I found of Becks from his Manchester United days-the Abbey Road part of his career. Enjoy.

PS. I'm sorry you'll have to break this news to your mom, grandma, girlfriend, wife, etc (basically every woman in your life). Beckham makes them all swoon, or so I've heard.