American soccer star confirms move to Italy
After months of speculation, it's finally official: Christian Pulisic is moving to Italy.
The American soccer star has joined AC Milan on a four-year deal worth roughly $25 million.
"For me, it's a great feeling, one I've never really had in my professional career," Pulisic told the Athletic. "The manager [Stefano Pioli] really spelled out exactly how he sees me fitting in with this team. I did feel wanted at this club, and when a club like Milan wants you, I think it was an easy decision for me and I'm really happy that I can start to work here."
There's a reason why Pulisic felt so wanted by AC Milan: the storied Italian club was recently purchased by American Gerry Cardinale of RedBird Capital. While Cardinale clearly hopes to return Milan to the top echelon of European soccer, his long-term plans for the club are more global. He believes that Italian soccer has immense potential to grow in the States--and that well-known American players like Pulisic can kickstart that process.
"I think AC Milan is a sleeping giant," Cardinale said at the Leaders Week Sports Business Conference in London last fall. "It's under-monetized. If you look at the differential in England and Spain and La Liga and Serie A, there's tremendous opportunity here to further work our way into the money on AC Milan and Serie A in general."
Pulisic will help market AC Milan--and Italian soccer in general--back home in the States. But AC Milan is helping Pulisic, too. By signing him to a long-term contract that will carry him through the 2026 World Cup, Milan is giving Pulisic the opportunity to play stable, high-level soccer in advance of the most important tournament of his career.
"It's such a big summer for a lot of [USMNT] players," Pulisic said.
"Because this is where you're going to be leading up to some of these big events - Copa America, World Cup - and you want to be in top form, absolutely.
"And that's why I came here. I hope to find that again."
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