Major update on USMNT star Christian Pulisic possibly joining MLS revealed

Recent rumors have linked United States men's national team and AC Milan forward Christian Pulisic with what would be a stunning move to Major League Soccer and to New York City FC.

While speaking with reporters on Thursday, NYCFC president Brad Sims indicated that his side won't be acquiring Pulisic anytime soon.

Christian Pulisic joining MLS, NYCFC this summer "dead in the water"

"If you ask any of my 29 counterparts across the league if they would be interested in having Christian Pulisic on their team, I'm pretty sure you'd get 29 yesses," Sims said, per ESPN and Joe Pantorno of amNewYork. "Would MLS, from a league standpoint, love to have Christian Pulisic here? I think the answer to that would be yes. If AC Milan doesn't want to give him up, then it's dead in the water."

Sims' update isn't all that shocking, as James Horncastle of The Athletic recently mentioned that Pulisic's "ambition" to play in the UEFA Champions League "makes leaving for MLS unlikely in the short term." Pulisic, who turns 28 this coming September, has scored the most career goals by an American in the Champions League. Horncastle noted that Pulisic essentially has two years left on his AC Milan contract, as the club can roll the deal over for another year. 

"And so I think ultimately we're believers that Christian wants to play in MLS, wants to be back home, and at whatever the point in time that is, we would think and hope that New York City FC would be very high on his list of teams that he would want to play for," Sims added.

USMNT captain defends Christian Pulisic after World Cup flop

Pulisic received quite a bit of criticism from fans and from multiple noteworthy individuals associated with United States Soccer following the Americans' 4-1 loss to Belgium in the round of 16 of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. While some suggested that Pulisic quit on the team when he was forced off with an injury in the 59th minute of the Belgium game, it was later learned that he suffered a bone bruise and microfracture in his leg during the match. 

During a Thursday appearance on "The Pat McAfee Show," United States captain and defender Tim Ream spoke about what has been said and written about his teammate. 

"You mentioned Christian there, but I don't think anybody had their best game by any stretch," Ream said about the United States' performance versus Belgium, per ESPN. "It just seemed like everything that could go wrong was going to go wrong that night, which is a shame because we put so much work in to get to that point."