Newcastle United have been linked with a move for Chelsea winger Christian Pulisic recently and the USA international could be Eddie Howe’s own version of Sadio Mane at St James’ Park.
The Athletic claimed recently that Newcastle could consider a move for the former Borussia Dortmund man, who has struggled to impose himself on the Premier League since joining the Blues in January 2019.
The 23-year-old has made 115 appearances in total, contributing 25 goals and 18 assists in that time, but was limited to just 13 starts in the top flight last season, which suggests that Thomas Tuchel doesn’t favour him.
Chelsea’s summer signing of Raheem Sterling is only likely to limit his game time further, which could open the door for Newcastle to sign him, and considering Ryan Fraser and Miguel Almiron managed just three goals in the Premier League between them last season, improvements are needed out wide.
As per FBref, the ninth-most similar player to Pulisic in terms of style of play is Mane, who established himself as a world-class player at Liverpool before his move to Bayern Munich this summer.
Should Newcastle sign Pulisic?
The Senegal international hit 120 goals for the Reds in 269 appearances, winning the Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup during his spell with Jurgen Klopp’s side.
Last season saw Pulisic and Mane register extremely similar statistics in terms of expected goals and assists per 90 minutes (0.56 vs 0.57), shot on target percentage (39.3 vs 37.4) and shot-creating actions per 90 (2.3 vs 3.1).
Therefore, with regular game time, it seems as if Pulisic could have the potential to emulate Mane’s level of performance at Liverpool, which would surely make him a quality addition at St James’ Park.
Jurgen Klinsmann was full of praise for Pulisic earlier this year saying:
“The experiences that he has already now under his belt are fantastic: playing in the Champions League at Borussia Dortmund and then moving on to Chelsea and winning it and playing on the highest level week in and week out.”
Pulisic is still only 23 so still has plenty of time to achieve his obvious potential, so Dan Ashworth should definitely look at bringing him in this summer.
