Christian Pulisic eyes Copa América title, 'absolutely' wants to end career in MLS

Unlike many of his teammates with the United States men's national team, Christian Pulisic wasn't schooled in an MLS academy, like Weston McKennie and Gio Reyna were. He didn't begin his professional career in America's top league, the way Tyler Adams did before moving to Germany and eventually England's vaunted Premier League.

But Pulisic, the AC Milan star, USMNT headliner and proud native of Hersey, Pennsylvania, "absolutely" wants to play in MLS before calling it a career, he said in an interview with The Athletic that was posted on Monday.

"It's come a long, long way from when I first started … almost, what, 10 years (ago) when I moved to Europe," Pulisic, who made his German Bundesliga debut for Borussia Dortmund as a 17-year-old in 2016, said of MLS. "Where the game has come in the U.S. from then, even MLS to where it is now, I've seen a massive change just as far as the support in the U.S.; you know, getting behind the national team and even the clubs [and] now seeing Messi in Miami."

Pulisic, now 25, was of course talking about Lionel Messi, the GOAT, who shocked planet fútbol last summer when he signed with Inter Miami. Messi immediately led the club to its first title, the Leagues Cup, a competition in which every team in MLS and Mexico's Liga MX participated.

"It's been fantastic for the league," Pulisic said of the Argentine's arrival in Florida. "The buzz around the league, around Miami whenever they play … it seems like a big televised game. Players like that are going to bring in fans, new fans, to watch the league. And for me it's only a positive thing."

As much as Pulisic wants to emulate Messi by finishing his career back home, there's plenty he still wants to accomplish on the other side of the Atlantic. Eight years into an adventure that has taken him from Germany to London giant Chelsea and now to Italy, Pulisic still has never won a domestic league title. 

He has a chance this season, though, even with AC Milan trailing rival Inter Milan and McKennie's Juventus atop the Serie A standings. He'd obviously also like to win another Champions League, a feat he accomplished with Chelsea in 2021, becoming the first American to play in the final in the process. 

"I hopefully have some great years in Europe ahead of me," said Pulisc, who on Sunday was named Serie A's best player in December. I'm loving my time here, so of course MLS is not in my head at the moment. But, yeah, at the end of my career? Absolutely."

Until then, Pulisic will still be spending plenty of time on home soil. The U.S. is hosting the Copa América this summer for the second time in eight years. After losing to Messi and Argentina in the semifinals in 2016, he's hoping his country can go even deeper — maybe even all the way.

"Of course the goal is to win the tournament," he said. "That's how we look at things. We have a good young team and this is a great opportunity for us to play against the world's best and hopefully show the world what we can do."

As much as he wants to show the world what the Americans can do next summer, the USMNT's biggest and most important test will come in 2026, when the U.S. hosts the first 48-team FIFA World Cup along with North American neighbors Canada and Mexico.

"There's just so much buzz around the sport," Pulisic said of the way soccer is growing back home. "And I think it's only going to get better in the next few years."

Doug McIntyre is a soccer writer for FOX Sports. Before joining FOX Sports in 2021, he was a staff writer with ESPN and Yahoo Sports and he has covered United States men's and women's national teams at multiple FIFA World Cups. Follow him on Twitter @ByDougMcIntyre.