Borussia Dortmund tell Liverpool hands off of Christian Pulisic
The rumors that Liverpool want to sign Christian Pulisic won't go away, but Borussia Dortmund sporting director Michael Zorc made the club's feelings on the matter pretty clear.
"It's not worth the effort for Liverpool," Zorc told Bild.
Liverpool have reportedly been interested in Pulisic since the summer, and it's no wonder they are. Not only is the 18-year-old American proving himself to be a terrific young player at Dortmund, but Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp knows the teenager well from when he managed at BVB. Toss in Liverpool being owned by Americans, and the appeal of having an American star, and it all makes sense.
Unfortunately for Liverpool, selling him makes no sense for Borussia Dortmund. They may have a ton of attacking talent, but Pulisic has been playing as much as anyone and even out-performing some of their more experienced, higher-priced stars. It would probably take upwards of £25 million to buy Pulisic, a number Liverpool are highly unlikely to pay now. BVB want to keep the 18-year-old and Zorc is rightfully making it clear that teams shouldn't even bother bidding.
There's little reason for Pulisic to leave Dortmund, anyway. While there were some concerns in the summer that he would struggle for playing time in a team with so many other creative players, that hasn't been the case at all and he has two goals and six assists already on the campaign. He has the 10th most minutes of any player in the squad and he's doing it for a club that does a very good job developing talent, so his future is secure at BVB. It doesn't matter if it's the Bundesliga or the Champions League, Pulisic is playing, playing well and growing as a player.
Pulisic's contract at BVB does expire in 2019 so come the summer, the club will want to sign him to a new deal. The last thing they want is to let Pulisic enter the final year of his contract at 19 years old and have little leverage to keep him. And for now, the biggest carrot Liverpool can dangle is a huge pay raise. But if BVB and Pulisic can agree to a new deal, everything will be fine and the club are making it clear that they have every expectation of that.
