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Photo by Aitor Alcalde/Getty Images
Photo by Aitor Alcalde/Getty Images

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‘Special quality’: International manager raves about £58m player who’s reportedly tempted to join Newcastle

Sam Preston
Sam Preston

United States of America national team boss Gregg Berhalter has hailed Christian Pulisic ahead of the World Cup.

Last month, it was that Newcastle could tempt the winger to join them from Chelsea, where he has struggled to establish himself in the first team.

Journalist Ben Jacobs told : “I think if Newcastle made the right offer, that could be very tempting to Pulisic.

“But he’s one of the players that the World Cup is really going to influence now because he’s stuck at Chelsea until the World Cup.

“If he then doesn’t have the best World Cup, he might feel shunned down the pecking order even further at Chelsea and then think, ‘okay, it’s better I just leave’.”

Chelsea FC v Arsenal FC - Premier League
Photo by Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images

Berhalter on Pulisic

As per the , Berhalter said of Pulisic: “He’s the catalyst. he’s the guy who can jumpstart everything, can make everything happen because of his ability.

“It’s not to add pressure to him because without everyone else performing well, he’ll have no opportunity to do that. But that’s what I mean.

“He’s like the tip of the iceberg, he’s like that last bit, that really can put you over the top with his special quality.

“That’s his MO. His MO is that if he’s not counted on by a manager then he’s going to prove that manager wrong. He’s going to train as hard as he can, then when he gets on the field he’s going to fight for that jersey, fight for that club, he’s going to show that he should be and deserves to be on the field.

“That’s what I really admire about him. It’s the transformation. He doesn’t feel bad for himself, he doesn’t feel sorry for himself, he just goes and does his work. That’s his quality.”

The 24-year-old joined the Blues back in 2019 for £58 million (). He was viewed by many as the next big thing for Chelsea, but injuries and inconsistency have really hurt him over the years.

He has failed to establish himself in the side under a succession of managers and he may now need to go somewhere he plays regular football.

As Jacobs said, the World Cup may determine what he decides to do next and the USA face England in the group stage on November 25th.