Borussia Dortmund’s Christian Pulisic is one of football’s most highly rated youngsters, a point underlined on Monday when the 20-year-old American forward was runner up to Kylian M’Bappe in the inaugural Kopa trophy for Under 21s.
The new trophy, named after the 1958 Ballon d’Or winner Raymond Kopa, was awarded during the Ballon d’Or ceremony and voted for by the previous 33 Ballon d’Or winners. Justin Kluivert of Ajax was third with Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold sixth.
Contrary to recent reports, Pulisic, who is contracted at Dortmund until June 2020, has not held new discussions over the past days with his club about his future - the player himself confirmed that this might happen during the January winter break.
Liverpool’s Jurgen Klopp, Dortmund manager when they signed Pulisic, is a long-time admirer, but while the American would like to play in England’s Premier League in the future, reports that he has prioritised a move to Liverpool over other clubs are wide of the mark.
Aside from Liverpool, Chelsea have also shown a strong interest in the attacking midfielder and both clubs are expected to be rivalled by Tottenham Hotspur.
Great honor to be named Runner Up in the #kopatrophy. Would like to thank my teammates and all the fans. Couldn’t have done it without you. pic.twitter.com/3Nu8EllfNb
— Christian Pulisic (@cpulisic_10) December 3, 2018
Closer to ‘home’ for Pulisic, many accurate reports emanating from Germany have Bayern Munich prioritising Pulisic as their No 1 signing for summer 2019. They are expected to move for the player with 23 full United States appearances and nine goals after Arjen Robben, 34, leaves at the end of the season.
Pulisic has no interest in leaving Bundesliga leaders Dortmund this season and is believed to be grateful to the club that gave him his big break in European club football. He is concentrating on winning the Bundesliga for the first time where Dortmund hold a seven-point lead over second placed Borussia Monchengladbach and are nine points clear of fourth-placed Bayern Munich.
Pulisic has had an up and down season, with niggling minor injuries meaning he had to sit out international call ups in September and October and he has not started any of the past seven league games.
Pulisic has started in the last three Uefa Champions League matches including the 4-0 home win against Atletico Madrid and the 2-0 reverse in Spain taking his total appearances for Dortmund to 111.
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