Christian Pulisic proves $191m Chelsea transfer decision right with Rafael Leao instruction sent

Chelsea transfer news: AC Milan will offer Christian Pulisic positional freedom that the Blues never did as a matchup with Rafael Leao awaits after his move.

Christian Pulisic is set to play in a different role when he joins AC Milan this summer. The American is closing in on a move to Italy following weeks of discussions between Chelsea and the Rossoneri over a deal.

Despite European trophy success in the past 18 months and being the scorer of an opening goal in an FA Cup final, Pulisic's moments of sheer quality became too inconsistent as his time grew on with many still looking back to the post-lockdown period of football in 2020 as his best spell.

The Athletic write that in direct conversations he held with Milan manager Stefano Pioli, the plan has been formed for the USA attacker to play primarily in central areas as a No10 with the option to drift wide. It is his favoured role and one that is commonly seen when he appears for his country.

It is also perhaps why he has been much more prolific for USMNT compared to club action whereby he is often played as a natural wide man, seen as the answer to Chelsea losing Eden Hazard in 2019, as well as being shunted into false nine and wing-back on occassion too.

He will now face competition for attacking roles from Rafael Leao, a player strongly linked with Chelsea in the past, and must prove himself capable of tying down a spot in the frontline be it as a winger of an attacking midfielder.

Having seen Chelsea try to offer his services out to Milan as part of a swap deal for Leao, the pair will now be competiting together in a fearsome group of forwards, however, with a new £149.5million ($191m) release clause, the Blues may well have one eye on the comparable success of Leao and Pulisic to see how well judged their transfer business has been.

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