Here’s the first of our FPL new player profiles where we focus on Chelsea’s Christian Pulisic.We look at his stats and compare them to other Chelsea players plus his prospects for the new season.
FPL New Player Profile – Chelsea’s Christian Pulisic
Christian Pulisic is a 21 year old American International who plays primarily as a right winger. He has been transferred from Borussia Dortmund to Chelsea for a fee of £58m.
He’s played 127 times for Borussia Dortmund and 25 times for the United States national team.
Here’s what Chelsea sporting director Marina Granovskaia said:
“We are delighted to have signed one of Europe’s most sought-after young players. Christian has shown his quality during a fantastic spell in Germany and at just 20, we believe he has the potential to become an important Chelsea player for many years to come.”
Here’s a few words Pulisic said:
“I know what I’m good at. I want to just show my skills, my pace, my quickness and creativity to score goals and make assists. I’m a good team guy who’ll give it everything.”
“I think they definitely see me in one of the wider areas, but I think they also know that I can play kinda anywhere across the attack. So I’m ready for wherever I need to be filled in really.”
The stats
Here’s his stats from the last 3 seasons in the Bundesliga with Borussia Dortmund
So while last season saw an improvement in returns per minute, he definitely took a downturn in gametime security. He started far less games than the previous season. That was mainly due to competition from Jadon Sancho as both are primarily right wingers. You could make a case that with his minutes having a strong emphasis as a substitute then it is easier to look better fresh against players who maybe tiring and that is why his per minute stats have improved so markedly.
Here’s the same stats for 18/19 from his Chelsea attacking midfielders.
So obviously you can’t compare him to Hazard who is one of the worlds best players. Pulisic though is a rounded goal and assist threat whereas Willian and Hudson Odoi are mostly assist based and Pedro more of a goal scorer.
Playing style and position
Pulisic played mostly as a right winger last season although also played on the left but less. That is pretty consistent with his entire Dortmund career. Dortmund last season primarily played 4-2-3-1.
He’s strong in the dribble which is a big plus in playing through a defensive press which is something becoming more and more common. He has excellent pace and isn’t afraid to shoot.
Prospects
It’s hard not to start with 2 very likely looking departures. It appears Chelsea and Real Madrid have agreed terms for Hazard to leave. That leaves a big hole on the left side of midfield. A big hole that a transfer ban will prevent being filled.
The manager Sarri also looks like he will be leaving for Juventus. That rules out the certainty of the 4-3-3 formation and playing style that would have gone with it. There is a big unknown to be clarified depending on the next manager.
One of the attacking midfielders who could be competing for his place in the attacking midfield Callum Hudson Odoi has a serious injury and could be out until October/ November.
That leaves the attacking midfield as Willian, Pedro and Pulisic. It’s worth mentioning at this juncture that Willian has been called up to the Brazil Copa America squad which means he could be in action there as one of the favourites until July 7. However Pulisic is also in action for the USA at the CONCAF Gold Cup. The USA and Mexico are clear favourites and he could be there until the 8th of July.
Depending on rest that will mean at least some of the pre-season will be missed for both players before GW1 on the 10th August.
All that creates alot of uncertainty over his starting prospects for GW1. How much we will be able to glean from a shortened pre-season it’s hard to say. Certainly if the new manager plays 4-2-3-1 there are only 3 attacking midfielders he could play unless he pushes Barkley further forward.
The one thing he could bring to the team is pace. Pedro certainly isn’t slow but at 31 he’s not getting any faster that’s for sure. Willian and Giroud certainly don’t have that in their locker.
However you would say that at 20 years old, new to the Premier League and with 2 experienced players in competition the possibility of being eased in is fairly foreseeable. Writing this now I would be surprised if he ends up in my GW1 team.
Hope you found it useful.
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