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he soccer-crazy kid from
Hershey in Pennsylvania had
been tipped for the top right
from the very start. Taking
advantage of his father’s coaching
connections, he spent a week training
at Barcelona’s iconic La Masia academy
as a 10-year-old and by his early teens
he was an object of desire for a host of
leading European sides, invited for trials
by the likes of Chelsea, Porto, Villarreal,
PSV and Borussia Dortmund – whose
youth programme he would eventually
plump for in the summer of 2014.
Prior to signing for Die Schwarzgelben,
Christian Pulisic was a star turn with the
Pennsylvania Classics and the United
States’ under-17 side, but initially it was
international team-mate Haji Wright who
attracted the attention of the Ruhr club.
In January 2014 the Germans sent
a scout to watch striker Wright in action
at the Aegean Cup youth tournament in
Turkey, but it was the young midfielder
who caught the eye. His speed, touch,
athleticism and awareness convinced
Dortmund to make transatlantic contact
and Pulisic was quickly invited back to
Europe for a trial.
As is usual in such circumstances,
Dortmund rolled out the red carpet and
the youngster was afforded the warmest
of welcomes from the club’s general
manager Michael Zorc and youth-sector
chiefs Lars Ricken and Eddy Boekamp.
After a tour of the club’s sumptuous
training facilities and repeated references
to the importance of youth at the
Westfalenstadion, the charm offensive
worked a treat. “I kind of knew it wasWORDS: Nick Bidwell