Christian Pulisic’s father has said that his son loves Milan and he would be happy if Joshua Zirkzee signed from Bologna in the summer transfer window.
Speaking during an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport (via Pianeta Milan), Mark Pulisic answered a range of questions about his son’s first season at Milan and other aspects of his career.
The American winger has potentially been the Serie A signing of the season as he cost €20m and has scored 12 goals across all competitions so far, as well as picking up eight assists.
He is the undisputed starting right winger for Milan now and his dad thinks that Stefano Pioli’s trust is a big part of why.
“Christian has had everyone’s trust. Pioli trusts him, he always lets him play and doesn’t immediately replace him if things go wrong. Then he likes Milan and he always speaks well of his teammates. Fikayo Tomori and Olivier Giroud helped him a lot when it came to choosing Milan,” Pulisic said.
He also explained that despite both being American, there was no direct contact with Gerry Cardinale to make the move happen last summer. Pioli was the face of Milan that they spoke to.
“No, I never spoke to Cardinale during the negotiations. Instead, a Zoom call with Stefano Pioli was fundamental, it went very well, Christian understood what the project was for him and said yes.”
Pulisic did not make the desired impact at Chelsea but is thriving in Milan, and the father has his own opinion on what went wrong in England: “I think there’s a misconception. For me it’s not true that Christian disappointed at Chelsea. He simply didn’t play regularly. For me he is now reaching his peak, he is 25 years old, he works hard to develop his game and is respected by his teammates.”
The possibility of leaving Milan
“No, let’s be clear: Christian loves Milan and wants to stay. He lives in Busto Arsizio to be close to Milanello, he’s coming to speak Italian and he gets on very well with teammates like Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Yunus Musah.”
The US national team
“He loves representing his country and matches with the US present him with new challenges. Sometimes they mark him in twos or threes and Christian has to find new solutions. Everything is fine, the only problems are the travelling and the time difference.”
Pulisic’s best moment at Milan: “I believe his first goal, on the first day in Bologna. Scoring immediately elevated his confidence.”
On the new striker who could play with his son in the Rossoneri
“Joshua Zirkzee would suit us. Yes, I like him.”
