Does Christian Pulisic need to leave Borussia Dortmund?

Christian Pulisic is America's brightest star. There is no doubting that.

With superb technical ability, speed, and a fearless demeanor, Pulisic is a true talent that can also provide tactical flexibility with his ability to shift between central and wide attacking positions.

All of that, however, is not enough to keep the American on the field consistently for Borussia Dortmund. BVB is stacked with the likes of Marco Reus, Marius Wolf, Jadon Sancho, Jacob Bruun Larsen, Julian Wiegl, Thomas Delaney, Axel Witsel, Max Philipp, Shinji Kagawa, Paco Alcacer, Mario Gotze, and Mahmoud Dahoud all battling for playing time centrally, across the front line, or out wide. Pulisic's inconsistent field time does not come down to any issue on his end, but just a volume of talent on the Dortmund roster.

With recent whispers of Chelsea and Liverpool circling about from the Premier League, along with the Bundesliga's own perennial power Bayern Munich showing an interest in Pulisic, it may be best for the star's own development to begin thinking about a new home.

In fact, Chelsea reportedly made the first, official offer for Pulisic - albeit, much below the €70M that BVB was seeking - last weekend.

Pulisic's deal with BVB ends in June 2020, so rather than risk losing such a valuable asset for free at that time, Borussia Dortmund has reportedly started looking at a potential sale as early as January - but more likely over the summer. Assuredly, wherever Pulisic lands next will be key to his continued development into the game's upper-echelon of players.

A Marketing Juggernaut

This is where Bayern Munich stands the most to gain of any club supposedly pursuing Pulisic. Bayern is already a weekly feature on FS1/FS2, but with an addition of Pulisic, Fox may be willing to open up its main network schedule (after college football season) in an effort to maximize the popularity of both Pulisic and Bayern. Even if games remained on FS1/FS2, the draw to Pulisic would provide an even greater marketing surge to the Bavarians as they are pushing to take their club global.

For Chelsea or Liverpool, however, the marketing draw is not as great. With a far more popular league that reaches more households already, the global power of the Liverpool and Chelsea brands has already made that reach into America. A move for Pulisic would certainly be worthwhile for all parties, but may not have the same impact as a move to Bavaria - not that Pulisic would let this factor into his decision on where to play.

Simply put, Pulisic would be a much more valuable asset to Bayern than any Premier League team.

A Tactical Fit

Each of the teams most closely linked to Pulisic offer a good, tactical fit given some of the expected roster changes. Chelsea mega-star Eden Hazard is always rumored to be on the verge of an exit, while Bayern's legendary set of wingers, Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery are reportedly leaving Munich after this season. Liverpool, meanwhile, would present the toughest lineup to crack, but Jürgen Klopp has a creative mind - and an alleged fondess for Pulisic - that could help find a consistent spot for such a talented player.

Pulisic offers the flexibility to fill a number of roles for any team he joins, but most importantly he needs to be on the pitch - at least more than he has been with Borussia Dortmund of late. Joining BVB was absolutely the correct move for Pulisic, but with so many coaching changes and an influx of even more young talent to Dortmund, Pulisic's playing time has just been limited too much in Lucien Favre's rotation.

Moving Forward

Pulisic's own boyhood affinity of Manchester United may not be mean much at this stage, but the Hershey, PA native should start scoping his options. It would be wise, however, to not immediately rule out a move to Bayern. Already a very good German speaker and familiar with the culture and league, Pulisic could be a next generation option in Bavaria for the likes of Robben and Ribery, who are expected to move on after the season, or even James Rodriguez, who is expected by some to exit Munich in the summer.

Frankly, American soccer should be firmly invested in where Pulisic lands. The 20-year old is the country's greatest hope to lead the USMNT to a World Cup 2022 berth. To have the best chance of that, Pulisic's next destination is one of the most key decisions that will happen for the country's soccer aspirations.

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