19-year-old American superstar Christian Pulisic looks set to become a name that many a gossip column will become very accustomed to in the coming months.

Liverpool have been continuously linked with the Borussia Dortmund winger, who scored twice against them in a pre-season friendly earlier this week, and had a bid of £11 million rejected for him back in 2016.

Now, though, with less than two weeks to go until the transfer deadline for this summer in England, Pulisic’s father, Mark, has added fuel to the fire.

Speaking to Sky Sports, he said: “There’s always change. You can think one thing, then you do it, and at the end of the day it wasn’t the right thing.

“Football is crazy. You have to go with the flow and make sure the player feels comfortable, whatever the decision is. There’s no magic formula.

"Is it right to stay at Dortmund? Who knows. Is it right to move to another club? He might think it is, or someone else might think it is, but it might not be in the player’s mind.”

Pulisic’s father completed his UEFA A license coaching qualification in England while the family lived near Oxford for a short time.

Now an assistant coach at the Pittsburgh Riverhounds in the USL, the US second tier, he has always kept on top of his son’s career and managed his decisions, including moving to Germany from Hershey, Pennsylvania, and admitted the Premier League would be an attractive destination.

He added: “The Premier League is a league where he’s always aspired to be in and play in. As a player nowadays, there are so few players staying at one club throughout a career, the chances of him moving to different clubs and leagues is a high probability.

“The only thing we can do is continue to talk with him and make sure he’s always in the loop of what’s going on, present all the facts and the content of what can happen, or will happen. It’s up to the player to make that final call.”

With a move for Nabil Fekir already broken down with no signs of resuscitation, signing Pulisic would be ideal for Liverpool this summer, although it is more likely a move for the American would come in future.

With Liverpool's huge Stateside fanbase, it makes sense off the field as much as on it.

Klopp favourite

Just a few days ago, in the build-up to Liverpool's friendly with Dortmund in the US, Jurgen Klopp, who worked with Pulisic when he was in charge at the Bundesliga club, was full of praise for him.

Klopp said: “I like Christian, I've known him since he was a kid. He's still not really old, he’s a fantastic player, and it’s deserved people think highly of him in America – in Germany it’s the same.

“If he wants to play in England or whatever one day then for sure he has the chance to do so but he’s at a really good club for his development at this moment. It's really good to be at a club where they know him already.”

He was at pains to clarify that Pulisic is very much Dortmund’s player, having already stated that he is happy with the signings Liverpool have already made this summer ahead of the new season.

The Liverpool boss added: If, at one point, he will join us, I don't know. I like him, it's not that that could be the problem, but we respect contracts still and there’s no market I know about at the moment. We did our business and Dortmund are doing theirs.”

Kicker reported this week that Dortmund would demand a fee of around €70 million for Pulisic, who does not turn 20 until September.

He is under contract until 2020 and there is no suggestion that any bid will be made by Liverpool at this stage, but this is certainly not a proposed deal that is likely to be forgotten about any time soon. 

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About the author
Matt Addison
20-year-old football writer specialising in Liverpool FC.