Earlier today we covered claims from SportBild that Manchester United are positioning themselves to sign Christian Pulisic in the next summer transfer window.
Sharing that on social media, followers quickly informed Sport Witness that Pulisic is a fan of the club.
That would give them at least some advantage when it comes to fighting off competition from elsewhere. All things being equal, it would be no surprise if boyhood love for a shirt had an impact on a transfer decision.
So, off we want to see if it’s true. And, it is. Pulisic is openly on record as saying he’s followed the club.
In September 2016, he told ESPN (via Goal): “I was a big Manchester United fan when I was younger. I loved to watch Rooney. I wouldn’t say I’m a similar player, though.
“I think his passion for the game is something you don’t see much in players. That’s what I loved about him.”
And then in February 2018, he spoke to ESPN, and The Independent took a quote from that interview about Manchester United: “Yeah, I was. I was definitely a big fan. Of course, right now I am under contract with Dortmund and I’m not looking around or doing anything like that so I’m very focused there. But, yeah, it’s cool to hear all this stuff!
“Of course, the Premier League is an unbelievable league. You never know in football what can happen, so right now, I’m focused with Dortmund, and yeah, that’s that.”
Now at this point, it’s worth saying ESPN seem to have removed those second quotes from their own article on the interview, but they were carried so widely it could be a case of Pulisic’s ‘people’ thinking he shouldn’t continue to mention United given the relative low chances of a deal happening and, back then, the repeated claims of a potential Liverpool move.
‘Liverpool target is a huge Man United fan’ articles were already swirling.
So, we have a claim Man United want him, the huge marketability of the US national team star, and he’s a fan… slotting into place.
