New York City FC has publicly declared its interest in signing United States star Christian Pulisic, but acknowledges that AC Milan has no intention of letting him leave.
NYCFC president Brad Sims made the candid admission at a Major League Soccer event held to promote the resumption of the league’s season on Thursday.
“If you ask any of my 29 counterparts across the league if they would be interested in having Christian Pulisic on their team, I’m pretty sure you’d get 29 yesses,” Sims said.
The NYCFC president went further, suggesting the entire league would welcome the American star’s return to his home country whenever the opportunity arose.
“Would MLS from a league standpoint love to have Christian Pulisic here? I think the answer to that would be yes,” Sims added.
He was blunt about the obstacle standing in the way, saying: “If AC Milan doesn’t want to give him up, then it’s dead in the water.”
Sims remained optimistic about a future move, expressing belief that Pulisic himself harbours a desire to return stateside at some point in his career.
“I think ultimately we’re believers that Christian wants to play in MLS, wants to be back home and at whatever the point in time that is, we would think and hope that New York City FC would be very high on his list of teams that he would want to play for,” Sims said.
Pulisic, an attacking midfielder born in Hershey, Pennsylvania, turns 28 in September and is heading into the fourth year of a five-year contract with AC Milan.
The American previously played for Borussia Dortmund between 2016 and 2019 before spending four years at Chelsea from 2019 to 2023.
Pulisic has accumulated 33 goals across 90 international appearances, cementing his status as the most important player in the history of the United States men’s national team.
However, he endured a difficult 2026 World Cup, failing to score and contributing just one assist as the United States were eliminated in the round of 16 by Belgium.
Injuries also hampered his tournament, causing him to miss one of the five American games entirely and forcing him off early in two others before fracturing his right leg late in the Belgium defeat.
“I felt really good this summer with the guys and I thought my level was high,” Pulisic said after the match against Belgium. “It’s disappointing I didn’t quite have the moments I was hoping to and to try to help us to get over this next step of beating a really good team.”
At club level, Pulisic made an electric start to last season, scoring 10 goals in his first 15 appearances for AC Milan, before enduring a career-worst drought that saw him go scoreless across 19 games after December 28.
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