'Revitalised': Zlatan Ibrahimovic thinks Chelsea sold an 'extraordinary' player for just £18m, Liverpool now linked

To think, many Chelsea supporters pondered if that wonderful spell during the lockdown period of 2020 would be the best we would ever see of a player who burned bright but brief in the Premier League.

With fans barred from stadiums during the COVID pandemic, it was a funny old time for English football.

The scorelines often rivalled those of that Boxing Day 1963 meme – Aston Villa 7-2 Liverpool, anyone? – while a handful of players produced the best football of their careers in front of an audience restricted to their own living rooms.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin hit 21 goals for Everton in that 2020/21 season. Patrick Bamford earned himself an England call-up. Jesse Lingard, for a while, looked like arguably the Premier League’s premiere attacking midfielder on loan at West Ham.

And for Christian Pulisic, comparisons with Chelsea icon Eden Hazard did not seem too far from reality as the American danced past defenders with ease.

That Chelsea sold Pulisic to AC Milan for a mere £19 million just two years later – after he scored once in 30 appearances during a difficult final season – epitomised the rapid decline of a reputation which had glittered albeit sporadically in West London.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic hails former Chelsea ace Christian Pulisic

Flash forward to November 2024, however, and Pulisic’s stellar displays in the red and black of the Rossoneri are finally proving that the former Borussia Dortmund wonderkid can perform to the peak of his powers in front of a baying crowd.

Pulisic – with seven goals and five assists in just 15 games – is averaging a ‘goal contribution’ every time he steps onto the pitch in AC Milan colours these days.

And Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who works as an advisor these days to Milan owners Red Bird, believes that Pulisic’s rampaging revival is down to the Italian giants’ ability to turn one club’s trash into another’s treasure.

“I think Christian is our ‘Captain America’,” Ibrahimovic tells the UEFA Champions League magazine with typical bravado. “He is doing extraordinary things.

“You can see that he is happy. Being at Milan makes every player happy. This is not just my opinion, every player would tell you the same thing. They have an optimal environment to focus only on football and performance on the pitch.

“As for Pulisic, we have revitalised him. And, now, you can see that he is really happy on the pitch, and for this reason he is performing at a high level. Off the pitch, he is also essential for us.”

Pulisic is not the only former Premier League benchwarmer who has bounced back in Milan. He is not even the only former Chelsea benchwarmer.

Liverpool links have Anfield icon split over Pulisic

Fikayo Tomori blossomed into one of Europe’s most promising young centre-halves at the San Siro. Ruben Loftus-Cheek, meanwhile, hit double figures from midfield for the first time since the 2018/19 season under Maurizio Sarri.

Pulisic is reportedly valued at by AC Milan £50 million today. More than double the fee Chelsea sold him for in 2023.

And amid claims that long-time admirers Liverpool are keeping tabs on Pennsylvania-born 26-year-old once again, could Chelsea be in for a repeat of that Mo Salah situation?

“I think it is a bit 50/50,” former Liverpool ace Steve Nicol says when asked if Pulisic would represent a risk for Arne Slot’s side. “What he’s done in Italy, if you took away what happened at Chelsea I’d be much more positive about it.

“But the fact that he didn’t cut it at Chelsea makes it a wee bit of a gamble. If you’re Liverpool, you don’t need to be gambling, especially as you have enough players to cover you going forwards.

“I’m really 50/50 on it.”