Christian Pulisic is 27, thriving in the red and black of Milan, yet the whispers around him grow louder: could he one day follow Lionel Messi to Major League Soccer? And how does Landon Donovan’s two-year-old advice fit into the picture now? The idea feels distant but strangely inevitable, and the team that employs the UMSNT star today stands at the center of a conversation about tomorrow, where identity, legacy, and unfinished business intersect.
For now, Milan enjoys a player at his most complete. For later, the United States waits. And somewhere in between, MLS watches a storyline unfold that seems to advance even without Pulisic saying a word. Those around the winger describe a player both grounded in the present and already sketching out the road beyond it. His career arc stretches from Pennsylvania to Dortmund, then Chelsea, and finally Milan — a journey across three of Europe’s biggest leagues in ten years.
He has tasted success at every stop: a Champions League title, strong Premier League spells, and now his most productive soccer in Serie A. Yet he has not committed to a contract extension in Italy, leaving an open lane toward whatever future he imagines next.
That future, he finally admitted, includes Major League Soccer. The truth arrives slowly, then suddenly — at the midpoint of his interview with Paramount+, Pulisic revealed the path he sees ahead. “Where will I be when I retire from soccer? I’ve thought about it… I’ll definitely spend some time in the United States. I’ve been away from my family for a long time.” It was the admission American fans had been waiting for — one hidden beneath the calm of a player enjoying his peak, yet clear enough to suggest his career still loops back home.
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Don’t forget the old warning — Donovan’s MLS advice
Two years earlier, the conversation around Pulisic was very different. With Lionel Messi preparing to join Inter Miami, Landon Donovan urged Pulisic to make a similar leap. At the time, the forward was leaving Chelsea and had the Rossoneri lined up as his next step. Donovan countered that logic with one of the most surprising public appeals in recent USMNT history.
“The World Cup is coming in three years… Bring an American superstar who has global recognition back to MLS ahead of the World Cup. I think it would have been a great move.” He even suggested LA Galaxy should “pay whatever you have to pay him.”
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However, Pulisic ignored him. And a year later, Donovan publicly reversed himself. “Yeah, I was probably wrong on that one,” he said on State of the Union, after watching the American win Serie A Player of the Month and cement his place as a Milan starter. “Christian has from day one shown that he deserves to be a key player.”
