Not a done deal until Chelsea and/or Pulisic himself confirms it. Meanwhile, the rumor is $60 million for the transfer, which is ludicrous for a player who is not a proven finisher, has lost his starting spot, and has had some recent, recurring injury worries.
Since when does actual position matter ? What matters are qualities. For a false 9 you need someone who can A) run and dribble, B) have vision, C) creativity, D) movement off the ball, E) passing ability, F) finishing. He's shown all those qualities at a world class at different points.
Thank Goodness this has been a poor year for CP, otherwise he would break football with his transfer.
I don’t really know what that means... lots of players do lots of things “at different points”, that doesn’t mean they have a collection of world class skills to be consistently relied on. I think his dribbling is excellent, that’s about it from your list. But position matters a lot in terms of where he gets his minutes, to the team that buys him. I wouldn’t expect him to be playing striker, or “false 9”, in the prem anytime soon. 10 sure, 8 even in certain systems. But he will mostly be a wide attacker for anyone that buys him right now. So, I dunno... time will tell who is right.
Other than Klopp being there and of course a bigger bankroll, I'm not sure why CP wants to trade one bench for another. Unless Klopp is going to use CP in a central role, he's not going to supplant Mane or Salah, or This Swiss Miss who came off the bench to score two today. The guy should move to a team that needs him as he is, not one that needs depth or would play him regularly if he could somehow prove to be better than 4 of the best wingers on the planet right now (Mane, Hazard, Salah, Sancho).
On form though, 4 of the best going right now? It’s a pretty fair point. But I’m not sure we can call Salah and Ronaldo “wingers” anymore.
He’s not on the bench now because of quality. He’s either 1. Getting protection prior to move or 2. Coming back from injury that keeps reoccurring every month or every other month. He’s not a “bench player” on Dortmund.
That he doesn't want to renew his contract does not necessarily mean he's leaving. You need two parties to tango, and I doubt anyone is paying £70m for a player with 18 months left and who doesn't want to sign an extension, when you can wait a little and his value goes down as there are fewer months left in his contract and he doesn't start regularly.
Really? Sancho, top wingers in the world? Come on now. Bale, Messi, Ronaldo, Neymar, Coutinho, Mbappe, etc.
Shaquiri can be magical but he runs hot and cold. I think Pulisic could take his job over the course of a season or a half season. I doubt he is going to pool, but I think he would look pretty good, pretty fast, with Salah and Mane on either side. I really hope last seasons minutes tally will be his high for a while. He played wayyy too many minutes last season. I don't mind him not playing as much, but he clearly has not been in BVB's plans since the refusal to sign. He doesn't seem to be playing with the same joy as the rest of the team. I thought a while back he looks checked out at times.
Sorry, I was being facetious, since *if* he's getting offers of 60mill from one or two of L'pool, Chelsea, Are, PSG, Bayer (and I have no idea if any of these rumors are correct) when he's been *poor* can you imagine what he would go for if he was good... ie. he's probably not been all that poor if these rumors are close to correct (which would be my read on the situation in any event.)
This is a generational problem I know well. Nobody anywhere from top to bottom has won a big trophy for ManU but somehow Mo don't know how to ball? This hits me personally because I'm fed up with millennials who've earned and accomplished nothing who somehow know how to do everything. The young guys u23 or so are useful , the rest: hipster toilet paper.
I think theres a clear role available for cp at liverpool, although he obviously wouldn't be a first choice starter. Klopp values versatility and speed in his attackers, with the speed being especially important on the wings. For all the talk about liverpool's improved depth, they have 5 quality players (the big 3, shaqiri, and sturridge) for 3-4 spots. And Sturridge is out of contract at the end of the season. Salah and mane are still logging heavy minutes, and liverpool remains extremely lucky that they've stayed pretty healthy. I think pulisic would be excellent to play a similar role to mane as a backup, especially with how Salah is playing more as a forward this year. Pulisic is much better-suited for what pool needs than lallana is. If pulisic can get similar minutes to what he is for bvb this year, but do so in a role he likes more, while making more money, playing on a bigger stage, and being groomed to take a leading role in a few years, I'd call that a good move for him. Nothing is guaranteed, but the appeal of a move to liverpool is easily understandable.
Don't worry man, we already know he's not as good as Mane and salah and Bobby and hazard and Alonso and really anyone in English football, but I still love the kid, you know why? Because he is without a doubt a kid who played absolutely balls out for his country. And more than that is the most important player for his country in the world. And none of his teammates stood up for him when it counted. Unlike them I'll not let the kid be slagged off. He's a top 10 attacking player in the world it's not his fault other people don't know it yet.
It kills me that people think the likes of Liverpool or even Chelsea make a signing based on goal and assist numbers. They actually look at far more advanced statistics, and they look at particular attributes and contributions. They could care less if Phillip hits every perfect ball from Pulisic to the moon. These teams, at least LFC I'm certain anyway, are looking for particular numbers. I don't know what they are. But they are not solely goals and assists. They want the underlying production that they believe leads to goals and assists. Then they plug the player into a role that maximizes his ability to contribute his strengths. It's not a coincidence that Salah and Mane appeared to explode. Did they get better? Probably marginally. But it's about being put into a role tailored to allow the players to succeed. People thought Liverpool was crazy signing AOC for 40-45 million, and then got surprised when he looks like a world class front-foot 8/8.5 midfielder. Anyway. Rant over.