Callum Hudson-Odoi is gone from Chelsea, moved to Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga on a season long loan. Hudson-Odoi played in 72 matches and scored only 4 goals for The Blues in five seasons. This season the England international did not play in any of the club’s first four league games.
For Christian Pulisic it now makes him the first-choice option off the bench for Thomas Tuchel to play on the wings. The American international has only played 72 minutes this season with 4 substitute appearances. Pulisic only played 15 minutes against Leicester City over the weekend.
For many pundits in the United States, Pulisic’s lack of playing time is concerning but for neutral minds, Pulisic is still seen as a viable option at Chelsea, even though he is not starting at the moment.
Where Christian Pulisic stands at Chelsea at the moment
Christian Pulisic is currently behind Mason Mount and Ruben Loftus-Cheek on the wings. While Mount has performed well for Chelsea it is highly debatable that Loftus-Cheek has performed at the level of Pulisic.
One way of looking at the situation is that Tuchel was favoring other options ahead of the American in case Pulisic did in fact move on from the club, which has been rumored since the start of the season. Pulisic has gotten interest from Juventus, AC Milan, and Manchester United with none of the clubs formally placing a bid. Manchester United was rumored to be looking to get Pulisic on loan but Chelsea was very hesitant to move a good player to a direct competitor.
Recently it was reported by The Athletic that Pulisic will not leave the club during the start of the season, a move that makes sense for both parties considering Pulisic’s talents will be on display at the World Cup for the USMNT and a solid showing may finally bring teams to the table to put down an expected 45-50 million euro transfer for the American.
The marriage of Pulisic and Chelsea has been rocky, the American has never seemed to be a first-choice player outright, rather having to battle for his starting spot at every turn, unfortunately when at the peak of his form Pulisic was hit by injuries which sidelined him three times at Chelsea. Nonetheless the talented American has 19 goals in 78 appearances for Chelsea.
For now, it would appear that Pulisic has to drop his head and once again do the work to get back into Chelsea’s starting lineup, but given the competition around him, Pulisic can realistically gain a starting position somewhere in the Chelsea attack and that spot might be Loftus-Cheek’s. Pulisic can also play up front or in the middle, but at the moment using the American in that capacity will only happen if Tuchel’s other options were to go down with injury.
Chelsea is not a club where any player can cement their name in the starting lineup, for now Pulisic will need to take solace that he has one less player to worry about.