Christian Pulisic regrets the Arsenal transfer as a USMNT player confronts another nightmare.
Brad Friedel, a former United States goalkeeper, has commented on Christian Pulisic joining AC Milan and Matt Turner choosing to leave Arsenal for Nottingham Forest.
Brad Friedel, a former member of the USMNT, has given his opinion on the summer transfers of Christian Pulisic and Matt Turner.
At Chelsea and Arsenal, respectively, both players spent last season on the outside looking in. In the instance of USA captain Pulisic, the winger made just ten starts in 30 games for the west London club during a dismal campaign at Stamford Bridge that saw Chelsea finish 12th.
The fact that Pulisic, 24, signed for AC Milan for £22 million ($27.64 million) during the summer transfer window indicated that the player needed a new beginning. The former attacker for Borussia Dortmund has scored twice in his first three Serie A games for Milan, making an immediate impact.
Mauricio Pochettino, the new manager of Chelsea, should have given Pulisic the opportunity to show himself, according to former USA goalkeeper Friedel. He does, however, acknowledge that Pulisic’s fantastic start in Milan is a tremendous plus for the USMNT.
“I’m really happy for Pulisic and for the move, I think it’s great and he’s playing, so for his career it’s great,” Friedel said to Sporting Post. “In terms of the fact that I believe Mauricio Pochettino would have really loved Cristian, I’m a little upset. I believe he might have thrived in his environment, but it wasn’t meant to be.
“But altogether, this is a really smart decision for Pulisic. He’s off to a great start, which is good for the national team since we need our top players playing.
“Last season we didn’t have that scattered throughout Europe. It was really hit and miss. There was a lack of players who were playing regularly and playing well, and not in relegation battles.”
Turning his attention to Matt Turner, who captained the national team during the Gold Cup, Friedel had some advice as a fellow number one. The ex-Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper has stated that Turner was right to leave Arsenal, having spent the entirety of last season as back-up to Aaron Ramsdale, without making a league appearance.
Aged 29, Friedel insists that Turner needed to find regular first team football, which he looked to have secured in his move to Nottingham Forest for £10m ($12.75m), instantly becoming first-choice. However, his fortunes suffered a late twist on deadline day.
Forest completed a flurry of signings as the transfer window came to a close, with Benfica goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos among them. The Greece international made 34 appearances has Benfica won the Primeira Liga last term and Friedel is intrigued to see how Turner rises to the challenge.
“With Turner’s move, someone that is as good as him should never have signed a contract to be a number 2 for any club,” Friedel continued. “I understand Arsenal are a huge, fantastic club, but when you have the ability he has, you’re only physically able to play football in your life, you need to play as many games as you can.
“I was a little disappointed for him when he was on the bench all season so I’m really happy with his move. But I’m a little disappointed again because Nottingham Forest know how good of a goalkeeper they have, yet they have signed another goalkeeper from Benfica who’s 29 and played about 500 games and lifted titles with Benfica and he’s got another battle on his hands.”
Both Pulisic and Turner have been included in the USMNT squad for the upcoming friendlies with Uzbekistan (September 9) and Oman (September 12).
