Football
ESPN staff 6y

Christian Pulisic not looking to move to 'unbelievable' Premier League

Borussia Dortmund midfielder Christian Pulisic has told ESPN FC that he has remained in contact with former teammate Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and that he's flattered to hear talk of a potential move to the Premier League.

The United States international, speaking in London at Nike's 20th anniversary celebration of the Mercurial boot, has been linked to both Liverpool and Manchester United -- his favourite club as a child.

And while Pulisic acknowledged that Aubameyang's decision to leave for Arsenal on transfer deadline day on Jan. 31 was partly fuelled by a desire to reunite with Henrikh Mkhitaryan, he is not immediately looking to move to England.

"Of course, the Premier League is an unbelievable league," Pulisic said. "You never know in football what can happen, so right now, I'm focused with Dortmund, and yeah, that's that."

Dortmund are fourth in the Bundesliga and among several clubs chasing the three remaining Champions League spots, with Bayern Munich already 18 points clear of second-place Bayer Leverkusen and Dortmund one point behind them.

The 19-year-old said with the transfer window now closed, it will be up to the players to focus on a strong run-in so they can secure qualification for the Champions League.

"[The transfer window] was definitely kind of a whirlwind," Pulisic said. "Every day, you hear something different in the media or whatever, something like that, but now that it's over, our team has been having kind of a rough go of things lately. So many different coaches in the last few months, but yeah, right now, we've just got to turn that around and focus on ourselves."

That will have to be done without Aubameyang, who had frequently been the subject of transfer rumours until Arsenal set a club record with a £56 million move for the Gabon international.

Pulisic said Aubameyang's presence around the club will be missed -- and that the forward was personally responsible for helping Pulisic adjust to life in the Bundesliga.

"I think you guys know what type of guy he is," Pulisic said. "He shows that. But, what I think you guys really don't know is just how nice of a character he is and how much he cares and how hard he works. I mean, he brought me along so much as a player and helped me and guided me, and he's been such a great guy. Obviously, we're sad to lose him, but I'm excited to see what he does."

As someone who has worn Nike's Mercurial boot his "whole career," Pulisic was excited to be invited by the company to partake in the anniversary celebration in southeast London.

Also among those in attendance was Neymar, who, despite his accolades in recent years, had not achieved the international success that Pulisic has before turning 20.

Pulisic said that the comparisons with Neymar, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo make him feel "like the luckiest kid in the world," but that he has been able to put his accomplishments in perspective because of his family and friends.

"My family, and just the people around me in my life -- you know, my friends, they take care of me, and whenever I'm too high, they bring me right down and when I'm too low, they pick me up," Pulisic said. "I've kind of had a perfect balance of that and I've just been able to go through it all with the people I love."

And although missing out on participating in the World Cup this summer with the United States has been difficult, Pulisic said that failure has spurred his motivation to continue to play well going forward.

"I'm trying to have a great season -- not only for myself, but hopefully, as a team, we can come together and fight for a Champions League spot," he added. "Of course, [it's been] disappointing with the national team, but basically, I just kind of want to be a leader for that team and help them grow. Hopefully, we can come a long way and be ready for the next World Cup."

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