What has gotten into Christian Pulisic? Since the start of the season, the American superstar has been displaying signs of world-class quality, especially on the domestic front. Most recently, the winger helped AC Milan secure an impressive 3-1 victory over Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League league phase. In fact, for Jurgen Klinsmann, it was exactly a performance that the ‘American perspective‘ needs from Pulisic.

Calling himself a ‘big fan’ of Pulisic after the UCL display, the former USMNT coach admitted it was his honor to help the 26-year-old during the early stages of his international career. And Pulisic’s soccer antics on the European stage give a proud feeling to Jurgen and the whole USA. “What Christian is doing right now at AC Milan is just fantastic, fantastic for all soccer fans in the United States,” said Klinsmann while speaking on ESPN FC.

“The work rate that he shows game in, game out, the amount of goals, the assists but especially his involvement, his positivity on the field is just a fantastic example. This is something that we always wanted from the American perspective to have players in Europe that really shine at big, big clubs and obviously, AC Milan is a huge club,” added Klinsmann.

The former German took a moment to make everyone realize that defeating a team like Real Madrid in the Champions League, that too, on their home soil, is something that not just Jurgen or the fans, but even “Christian will never forget in his whole life.” The former USA boss also hopes to see more similar displays from Pulisic in the future. “It’s just so cool, it makes you so happy that there is somebody [like him].”

We aren’t surprised by such praise for Pulisic. Having scored an Olympico (direct goal from a corner kick) in the previous Champions League game, and now giving a man-of-the-match-worthy performance against the very kings of the European competition is no easy feat.

Though it’s not like he got his name on the scoresheet against Madrid, he was surely involved in more than just the goals from Malik Thiaw, Alvaro Morata, and Tijani Reijnders against the Spanish giants. No wonder he earned much-deserved respect from someone like Thierry Henry after this display. Yet for Jurgen Klinsmann, he hopes to see more American stars turning up like Pulisic.

Christian Pulisic is a perfect inspiration for USMNT-based stars in Europe

Jurgen Klinsmann didn’t end with heaping praise over Christian Pulisic as the former tactician also hopes to see ‘other American kids’ who are in Europe, like the duo of Weston McKennie or Tim Weah at Juventus to also emulate similar displays. “I hope they experience those things now and this should give us a lot of optimism about the national team looking towards the World Cup in one and a half years from now,” he said.

It remains to be seen whether other American-based European stars will achieve similar success to Pulisic. While we can imagine the excitement if they do, for now, fans are grateful to see Christian leading the way.