Arne Slot has been dealt a blow to his hopes of signing Christian Pulisic, with AC Milan set to hand the American a new contract.
Pulisic had emerged as a target for Liverpool in the January window as they look to bolster their squad for the Premier League title run-in. The 26-year-old has impressed for Milan since arriving from Chelsea in the summer of 2023.
He has scored eight goals and notched six assists in all competitions in what has been a difficult campaign for the Rossoneri. They find themselves sitting eighth in Serie A, eight points adrift of the Champions League qualification places.
His performances in their tough campaign drew the attention of Liverpool. Pulisic's contract has two more years remaining, plus a club option for another 12 months, though that had not deterred the Reds.
But it appears that Milan are making moves to head off that interest from the Premier League leaders. According to Calciomercato, Pulisic is well-regarded by San Siro chiefs.
Over the past two months, Milan have been working to hand their star players new contracts on improved terms. Pulisic is the next man on their list, with the American set to receive a near £1million per year pay rise.
For his part, Pulisic is set to be 'totally immersed' in his Milan adventure and is focusing on winning trophies with the storied giants. Liverpool's interest appears to have prompted the new offer, with the deal will making it 'increasingly difficult' for the Reds to buy him.
The news will come as a blow to Slot, who only saw Federico Chiesa arrive last summer. The Liverpool boss has already hinted he will push club chiefs to loosen the purse strings next month.
“Bringing players in is always a process about making the smart decision to make,” he said. “If it’s true what you say ( Jurgen Klopp didn’t sign anyone significant in summer of 2019 before winning title), maybe the owners might think, ‘okay, the best thing is to bring no players in!’
“Maybe I should be happy with how Chelsea does at the moment, that I can tell the owners, ‘yeah, but if you bring in for £1.2billion it is also a possibility to be successful!’. There is not only one way, that is what makes this league table interesting.
"There is one team who didn’t do anything in the summer except Chiesa who hasn’t played a lot yet, and one team which spent (exhales breath), and is also successful. It makes it interesting there are several ways of being successful.
"It is also nice and it’s also an identity to first look at your players and your academy and see what that brings. That makes football such an entertaining world that you can be successful in different ways. I think it is good for everyone that we are at the moment competing right up there."