So because he hasn't been prolific by the age of 20 that means he never will be? By the way, Salah only scored 28 in his first 114 games despite playing in a more attacking position than Pulisic and the majority of those games being in the Egyptian and Swiss leagues. 

I never really was ultra-excited about this signing.  Never have been overly impressed with him.  That said, after watching video of him and Dortmund, it appears he has a better final ball than I thought.  Seems to me his crossing is halfway decent and his through ball is nothing to dismiss.  His touch is much better than I recall, as well.  I’ll reserve judgement for when he actually plays for us, but we definitely could’ve done worse.  Good to see us getting younger in attack and go for someone who, quote obviously, has loads of potential.

53 minutes ago, dkw said:

So because he hasn't been prolific by the age of 20 that means he never will be? By the way, Salah only scored 28 in his first 114 games despite playing in a more attacking position than Pulisic and the majority of those games being in the Egyptian and Swiss leagues. 

To add another, Cristiano 32 goals in his first 170 club career appearances upto and including 05/06.

Edited January 3, 20197 yr by Argo

Another comparison is Sterling. He had an electrifying season during the Slippy G-season, at 19/20 years old, but stagnated. He then massively improved with the proper instructions, given by a manager with a similar philosophy to Sarri, and is now one of the best wide players in the league. 

Sterling too was seen as all pace and trickery but little end product, just like Pulisic is now. The common denominator is that both are/were young enough to teach them how to make better decisions.

52 minutes ago, Argo said:

To add another, Cristiano 32 goals in his first 170 club career appearances upto and including 05/06.

I know this is a bit ridiculous (the infographic), but so is writing off a 20 year old kid...

The last several posts make a particular point: Stop writing him off, he's just a 20 year old kid etc. He can improve.

I think this perhaps misses the key plank in the argument (or certainly in mine) It's a 60m investment. One that would easily fund Nabil Fekir or go a long way to addressing our key issues in the squad (namely a proper striker or left sided central defender).

It's a huge investment and 'he will improve' isn't enough. We've wasted so much money on players 'who will improve' over the last few years. Morata, Bakayoko, Batshuayi, Baba Rahman. That's close to 150m invested for nothing. Truth be told I can't remember the last young player we bought who we actually improved or grew. Maybe Zouma before his injury?

It's a failed strategy and we need a new one (or maybe a proper director of football) and fast.

Why are you certain fekir wouldn't fail, or whoever else you would prefer us to sign?

18 minutes ago, Spiller86 said:

The last several posts make a particular point: Stop writing him off, he's just a 20 year old kid etc. He can improve.

I think this perhaps misses the key plank in the argument (or certainly in mine) It's a 60m investment. One that would easily fund Nabil Fekir or go a long way to addressing our key issues in the squad (namely a proper striker or left sided central defender).

It's a huge investment and 'he will improve' isn't enough. We've wasted so much money on players 'who will improve' over the last few years. Morata, Bakayoko, Batshuayi, Baba Rahman. That's close to 150m invested for nothing. Truth be told I can't remember the last young player we bought who we actually improved or grew. Maybe Zouma before his injury?

It's a failed strategy and we need a new one (or maybe a proper director of football) and fast.

That is also assuming we don't go and buy a fekir or the striker we need. There is going to be a massive change in the attacking department, there are massive question marks over the future of every single attacking player on our books. How many out of Giroud, Morata, Batshuayi, Abraham, Hazard, Willian, Pedro, and CHO, can anyone say with any certainty will be here in 6 months or 18 months time? 

There's every chance we will get a fekir type attacker, and a new striker aswell, maybe even one or two more if hazard goes.

1 hour ago, dkw said:

Why are you certain fekir wouldn't fail, or whoever else you would prefer us to sign?

That's a fair point and of course Fekir has risks notably his injury issues. My point is that it's time to pick the players we need now and buy them with this 60m not buy potential or spend big on backups (Drinkwater, Zappacosta, Emerson cost a lot and have barely played this year)

47 minutes ago, big blue said:

That is also assuming we don't go and buy a fekir or the striker we need. There is going to be a massive change in the attacking department, there are massive question marks over the future of every single attacking player on our books. How many out of Giroud, Morata, Batshuayi, Abraham, Hazard, Willian, Pedro, and CHO, can anyone say with any certainty will be here in 6 months or 18 months time? 

There's every chance we will get a fekir type attacker, and a new striker aswell, maybe even one or two more if hazard goes.

That's also true. If we did a plan for our squad in two seasons time. It's unlikely purely based on age that Willian, Pedro, Giroud would be here. We may make further investments just based on that. However, in a constrained fiscal situation and with a possible upcoming transfer ban the money could be better spent than on Pulisic, either on a new player or buying someone better than we would otherwise have purchased.

2 hours ago, Skinnedy said:

I know this is a bit ridiculous (the infographic), but so is writing off a 20 year old kid...

Hahaha. It’s funny seeing him being compared to two football’s greatest. Interesting though.

Edited January 4, 20197 yr by dansubrosa

2 hours ago, Spiller86 said:

I think this perhaps misses the key plank in the argument (or certainly in mine) It's a 60m investment.

I also happen to think that we just signed a 20 year old that would improve our right wing if he stepped on the pitch on Saturday. 

Were there targets that might be better on the RW that were available to us? Maybe 

Is he better than what we currently have in Willian and Pedro? Considering their age, production,and fitness... Absolutley. 

I dont think this is just a signing for what he could be... he a better option August 1st at RW than what we currently have. That's good. That's he's 20, is even better...

I think there is going to be a massive overhaul in the next 8 months. We talk about the 200M spent 2 years ago... we'll get a good chunk of that back with sales. And if Hazard goes, we'll fly by 200M in incoming players in the next 8 months. 

Pulisic isn't the answer by any stretch , but he's a nice piece of the puzzle. 

 

 

17 hours ago, the special one said:

 

Triggered 

sakes... we got the wrong bloke... 

7 hours ago, Skinnedy said:

I know this is a bit ridiculous (the infographic), but so is writing off a 20 year old kid...

Has anyone been wroting him off though? Expressing a consern is hardly the same as saying he will never be good. 

On 03/01/2019 at 02:16, Scott Harris said:

The problem here is the likes of you and others not letting people have an opinion. Get over yourselves for f**k sake, we all have different opinions on things and we should be allowed to express them without people jumping down our throats. If you don't like it then what the hell are you doing on a forum in the first place?

I don't think he is that great, sorry, but that is just how I feel. A lot of people thought Bakayoko and Morata were going to be the next superstars, but look at them now. One is trying to revive his career on loan and the other is turning out to be a massive flop. 

I didn't see the likes of you complaining when people were moaning at the signing of Barkley. Is there a rule for the types of signings we can and can't critcise or something?

If he is good then great, we are all happy, but at this moment, I don't rate him very highly. What I have seen is a player that is very skillful, but lacks end product (a bit like Willian) and has now been dropped to the bench for another youngster. If he was as good as people are saying he is, then he would never have been dropped. It's like Morata, if he was as good as people were saying he was, then he would have been a regular at Juventus and Real Madrid.

If we weren't desperate for goals right now, maybe I would be a bit more excited about the prospects of this guy, but at this moment, In a time where we are desperate for goals, I was hoping we would bring in somebody that can actually score those goals. Pulisic may be good enough in 2 or 3 years time (he may even be terrible) but it doesn't do much for us right now.

The constant negativity is annoying though, the first page of this thread was pretty ridiculous. 

3 hours ago, Raven8er said:

sakes... we got the wrong bloke... 

Had zero chance of signing Snotty. Such a talented player. Don't beat yourself up over it. 

I have expressed my reservations over this signing previously (stagnation/mediocre season/lack of end product), so I won't do so again because it will seem like piling on.

Some have cited commercial considerations as a reason for making the transfer but I think that should at most be a minor issue when deciding whether or not to purchase a player.

Nonetheless, I accept that he has potential. 

10 hours ago, Spiller86 said:

I think this perhaps misses the key plank in the argument (or certainly in mine) It's a 60m investment. One that would easily fund Nabil Fekir or go a long way to addressing our key issues in the squad (namely a proper striker or left sided central defender).

I'm not sure where this recent love affair with Fekir came from (not just you, but seemingly half of English football fans). Last year I watched most Lyon games due to living here, and while he's their star man and can produce some moments of brilliance, he also regularly disappears in games, has bad discipline and of course he's playing against Ligue 1 defences which are a serious step down from the PL.

It was noticable that in the world cup, France didn't start him once. He played 6 times, got a grand total of 69 minutes and got no assists or goals.

Fekir is an easy player to love when he plays for you, he's flamboyant, hugely passionate and more than a little crazy, but he's also had some bad injuries and is a definite risk in many ways.

This is the guy who when Lyon beat their local rivals St Etiene 5-0, ran up to the StE fans, took off his shirt and held it up to them causing a riot which delayed the end of the game for about 15 minutes. It was glorious to watch, extremely funny, and yet I definitely don't want to see a Chelsea player doing that and ending up banned for half a season. 

2 hours ago, evissy said:

Had zero chance of signing Snotty. Such a talented player. Don't beat yourself up over it. 

Imagine the bidding war between Europe's elite if he came on the market.... 

6 hours ago, DaRick said:

I have expressed my reservations over this signing previously (stagnation/mediocre season/lack of end product), so I won't do so again because it will seem like piling on.

 Some have cited commercial considerations as a reason for making the transfer but I think that should at most be a minor issue when deciding whether or not to purchase a player.

 Nonetheless, I accept that he has potential. 

I mentioned commercial reasons, but that is more a consideration of why the price is what it is. I think the first priority is and was; "is he right for the team". Sarri seemed to think so and I don't have any reasons to doubt him. 20 year old with 100 appearances at a high level, that's good enough for me. 

We need to replace Willian, Pedro, Moses, CHO (because CHO will leave) and probably Hazard in the next 18 months. Pulisic is the first. 

Edited January 4, 20197 yr by benjsross

3 hours ago, Kentonio said:

I'm not sure where this recent love affair with Fekir came from (not just you, but seemingly half of English football fans). Last year I watched most Lyon games due to living here, and while he's their star man and can produce some moments of brilliance, he also regularly disappears in games, has bad discipline and of course he's playing against Ligue 1 defences which are a serious step down from the PL.

It was noticable that in the world cup, France didn't start him once. He played 6 times, got a grand total of 69 minutes and got no assists or goals.

Fekir is an easy player to love when he plays for you, he's flamboyant, hugely passionate and more than a little crazy, but he's also had some bad injuries and is a definite risk in many ways.

This is the guy who when Lyon beat their local rivals St Etiene 5-0, ran up to the StE fans, took off his shirt and held it up to them causing a riot which delayed the end of the game for about 15 minutes. It was glorious to watch, extremely funny, and yet I definitely don't want to see a Chelsea player doing that and ending up banned for half a season. 

Concerns for Fekir are definitely due to injury (which is why Liverpool did not end up signing him) but he's undoubtedly shown his quality against Monaco when they were in good form and some of the better French teams. In the world cup, he mostly came on as a sub (e.g in the 83min when France beat Argentina).  Guy was never going to start when he has one of the world's best in Griezmann there. 

I would be happy to sign him as he does score, although one of those that if we don't, it's not a huge deal 

Edited January 4, 20197 yr by MANoWAR

15 hours ago, Skinnedy said:

I know this is a bit ridiculous (the infographic), but so is writing off a 20 year old kid...

This is why Kepa,Pulisic,RLC,CHO are our new dynasty players, the potential is massive there.

On 03/01/2019 at 01:11, robdog said:

Gotta admit it's nice to have another American Hero playing for Chelsea

The first being Matt Miazga?

Just now, PimpThanos said:

The first being Matt Miazga?

Nope, Robert Green is a Great American Hero

 

2 hours ago, robdog said:

Nope, Robert Green is a Great American Hero

 

But he never has never and probably will never play competitively for Chelsea. 

48 minutes ago, Munkworth said:

But he never has never and probably will never play competitively for Chelsea. 

he probably never have to buy a drink here in the States - dude is our Hero