GdS: Milan want USA to not call Pulisic up despite early recovery – the reasons

AC Milan are hoping to have Christian Pulisic back sooner than first thought, and they want to keep him over the November break.

As La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) write this morning, Pulisic has been Milan’s best player this season, with four goals and two assists to his name in Serie A so far. However, he has been forced to watch from the sidelines in the last two games with an injury issue.

Having acknowledged that he had a sore ankle ahead of the first USA game in the October break, Mauricio Pochettino nevertheless started him in the second match against Australia. The MRI scan he underwent showed a hamstring issue, with a diagnosis initially of a month out.

The plan for Pulisic

Meanwhile, Christian has been training to recover from his injury, following a personalised program. It’s a plan that has paid off: Pulisic won’t be back tomorrow against Atalanta and is unlikely to be available against Roma on November 2nd. However, this possibility can’t be completely ruled out.

Before the November break, Milan will also play in Parma, and Pulisic is aiming to be available for that game. If he’s available for Allegri and the Rossoneri, he’ll also be available for Pochettino and the United States. At least in theory.

A friendly against Uruguay is scheduled for November 19th but with no points or qualification at stake, Milan would like to avoid another possible intercontinental trip for the striker. A ‘vacation’ at Milanello would be much better, where Pulisic would then be fully over his muscle injury.

After the break, the Serie A schedule features the most intense of matches: the Milan derby. The club wants to avoid Christian returning tired from New Jersey (the United States-Uruguay match will be played at the MetLife Stadium), and being available to the coach only a few days before the restart.

This wouldn’t be compensation for what happened last time, but simply a matter of common sense, in the eyes of Milan at least. The CEO Giorgio Furlani is in talks with representatives of the US Federation to discuss the idea of the forward remaining in Italy.

Even if Pulisic were to return to action before the break, he would use the break to rest and regain top form. This would be a win-win situation for everyone, for Milan and for his national team. We’ll see if the USA agree.