Christian Pulisic's adventure with Chelsea gets underway in Tokyo
The United States National team winger cut his holidays short to join up with Frank Lampard's squad in Tokyo. Today, he trained with the team for the first time.
Christian Pulisic arrived in Japan earlier today to join up with the Chelsea squad for the pre-season. The player cut his summer break short to get down to work with his new team mates as quickly as possible.
Pulisic joined Chelsea last winter in a record transfer of $73 million to become the most expensive US soccer player in history but was loaned back to Borussia Dortmund for the remainder of the 2018-19 season.
He was only recently on international duty with the USMNT, but instead of taking a standard three-week break, he decided to start work early with his new team mates so he will be ready for the start of the new Premier League season. The 20-year-old American star missed Chelsea's friendlies against Bohemians and St Patrick's last week as he was still involved in the Gold Cup with the USA.
Pulisic made a big impression during the tournament, despite defeat to Mexico in the final. He picked up the Young Player of the Gold Cup award and starts his Chelsea career with high expectations to meet.
Lampard's boys in Tokyo
The new Chelsea's manager had mentioned that Pulisic would be travelling separately to join the team in Japan. The committment shown by the US international was something Lampard appreciated as Pulisic will be a player that he'll be relying on during the new campaign. "It is how I would have been coming back from holiday early. It is a huge move for him to a big club, and he is a top young player who will only go one way - up."