Arsenal tipped to turn Chelsea flop into the next Mohammed Salah in transfer coup | OneFootball

Christian Pulisic is a man reborn since leaving the Blues

The attacking midfielder was sold at a significant loss to AC Milan, and has since grown into one of Serie A's best players.

"I’m going to put him in a very high class here," Tim Howard told the Unfiltered Soccer podcast of Pulisic. "De Bruyne and Salah, we now know the finished products.

Salah went to Roma and De Bruyne went to Werder Bremen and Wolfsburg. They gained confidence, came back to the Premier League, and then it was game over

Tom Howard

"When I say those names, people are going to go, 'Huh? Those are two of the greatest players in Premier League history', but I remember Kevin De Bruyne at Chelsea, I remember Mohamed Salah at Chelsea.

"They weren’t good enough, apparently, so they went abroad. Mohamed Salah went to Roma and Kevin De Bruyne went to Werder Bremen and Wolfsburg. They were the players that they were, they gained confidence, they did all those things, they came back to the Premier League and then it was game over, history was written.

"I feel that with Pulisic as well because he was at Borussia Dortmund. We get it, it’s a big club. He was still young, though, and he then goes to Chelsea.

"I backed him to the hilt at Chelsea and unfortunately he didn’t get the rub of the green, went through some different coaches and then he went off. But he sort of reminds me of Salah and De Bruyne in that he went off, he’s matured and he’s older, and he’s gone to one of the best teams in the league.

"He’s put AC Milan on his back and he’s been the best player in that league so now I think, from the physical, football maturity side, he now comes back to the Premier League, and he gets slotted into a Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool, I think there’s actually another level for him."

Christian Pulisic and Mohammed Salah

AFP via Getty Images

Asked if Pulisic would be better served returning to a mid-table team over a Premier League giant, Howard replied: "It depends who you are. If he’s saying, 'I want to play every week, be the guy', then he can go to a number six through to eight team in the Premier League.

"But if he’s really saying, I’ve been to the Premier League, I’ve tasted what it’s like at the top at a big club like Chelsea, I want more of that, I’ve got something to prove here'... I don’t know his mentality but I think he does [think like that] and I’d like to see him on these teams.

"If I look at Liverpool and I look at Arsenal, the jury is out on Manchester United... these are well-grooved teams, they really are. They’re well run, they’re well-grooved, they’re playing well.

"So if they’re buying him and paying a decent fee for him then they have a plan for him. It’s not part of an experiment. Maybe it would be with Manchester United a little bit but it’s still Manchester United."