With his contract at Serie A giants AC Milan set to expire after this season, U.S. Men's National Team star Christian Pulisic has decided to stay put.
The 28-year-old Pennsylvanian recently put pen to paper on a deal through the summer of 2031 . This means, as USMNT legend Landon Donovan recently put it on his and Tim Howard's ' Unfiltered Soccer ' podcast, "He's basically given all of his prime years now to Milan."
Pulisic has called Italy home since moving from Chelsea in the summer of 2023, rediscovering the electric form that made him a standout for Borussia Dortmund prior to his mixed stint in the Premier League.
Landon Donovan believes this new deal puts an end to any hopes of Pulisic moving to Major League Soccer soon -Credit:Shaun Clark/ISI Photos/ISI Photos via Getty Images
In each of his three seasons at the San Siro, Pulisic has scored at least 10 goals across all competitions, finishing as the Rossoneri's leading goalscorer in a single campaign once, and twice in the other two.
Assuming he remains in Italy for the duration of his new deal, Pulisic will have spent eight seasons in Milan - something longtime LA Galaxy star Donovan felt he could relate to.
"When you find a place that you are comfortable, and you know this from your time at Everton, I think people often think like, 'Oh, you should go here, or you should go…' For me, it was, 'Oh, you should go to Europe and you should…' And I was performing well, happy at the Galaxy. It was a place I felt comfortable," he explained.
"Christian clearly feels comfortable there. He feels loved there. He feels supported there. And people can have their opinions on what he should or shouldn't do, but this is a place that he is he's happy playing. And so I understand why. And I think it's great. I mean, too few players now stay for a long time at a club. And I respect that. I'm happy for him."
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Of course, Pulisic committing his future to Serie A shuts the door - at least for the time being - on any hopes U.S. soccer fans may have had of seeing Captain America return to play Stateside in Major League Soccer.
"I know MLS fans wanted to see him come back. I think NYCFC were really pushing to get him ahead of their new stadium opening," Donovan said. "I don't know if that was ever happening at that point.
"I just feel like he's so happy there. There's no amount of money…Well, I shouldn't say no, but there's probably not an amount of money you're going to offer him to come back. He's making good money. He's happy. He's playing well. So, I think, happy for him, and hopefully it keeps him playing well, producing as it comes to the national team."
Since recovering from a bone bruise and microfracture in his leg suffered during this summer's FIFA World Cup, Pulisic has slowly worked his way back into Milan's starting lineup under new head coach Ruben Amorim.
On Saturday, Pulisic found the back of the net in Milan's 3-1 derby win against reigning champions Inter.
