Gareth Southgate warns England stars about Christian Pulisic and explains why he’s struggled at Chelsea

England boss believes Christian Pulisic will be disappointed with how his career is panning out but is still wary of the threat he poses ahead of the .

Pulisic has flattered to deceive at Stamford Bridge following a £58m move from Borussia Dortmund in 2019, scoring 26 goals in 131 games.

While the American has tasted glory at Chelsea and reached four Wembley finals, he has struggled to cement a place in the team, with more than half of his appearances coming from the bench.

Southgate believes Pulisic has struggled to adapt to the Premier League, while his progress has been harmed by reoccurring injury problems and the regular change of managers at Stamford Bridge.

But the England boss insists Pulisic is still a player his team need to be ‘ready’ for at the Qatar World Cup as the Three Lions prepare to face USA on November 25.

Southgate told : ‘I obviously watched him a fair bit at Borussia Dortmund as we had Jadon Sancho there at the time and then moving into Chelsea, I think that adaptation from the Bundesliga to the Premier League isn’t straightforward for a start.

‘The level of the biggest games is similar if you’re playing Bayern Munich or [Red Bull] Leipzig but then when you drop down the league.

‘There’s a big difference between the spending power in the bottom half of the Premier League where they can basically take players from some of the biggest clubs in Europe and the bottom half of most of the other leagues in Europe where that depth isn’t there. I think that takes some adjusting to.

‘Of course, he’s had two or three coaches to deal with so I think there’s been moments where he’s looked like he’s on his way, he’s flowing and he’s got a coach that believes in him and he’s had to deal then with setbacks with injury.

‘He would probably feel he hasn’t got quite to where he wants to get to yet, I’d imagine, but he’s a very good player and is a player when you’re looking at the opposition team sheet, he’s someone you’ve got to be aware of and got to be ready for.’

Both England and USA begin their World Cup campaign on November 21, with Southgate’s side facing Iran and Gregg Berhalter’s team taking on Wales.

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