MLS adds Christian Pulisic to list of players subject to allocation order
If, by some chance, Christian Pulisic is to come to MLS, the league has determined the path for how that would happen.
MLS added Pulisic, the USA and Borussia Dortmund's rising star, to its set list of players subject to the league's allocation order, which is reserved for U.S. men's senior and youth national team players and players returning to MLS after being transferred out for more than $500,000. Alejandro Bedoya and Tim Howard made their moves to MLS under that provision this season.
According to MLS's official language: "The players who will be included on the Allocation Ranking List will be determined by Major League Soccer’s player personnel department and club technical staffs and will be updated once each year, during the time window between the end of the MLS regular season and MLS Cup. The Allocation Ranking List will only be updated during the season if an elite U.S. youth national team player turns 18 or graduates from the U.S. Soccer Residency Program in Bradenton, FL and is deemed eligible for the list. In addition, the Allocation Ranking List will be updated when a player is transferred out of MLS for more than $500,000."
Pulisic turned 18 on Sunday, a day after scoring his first Bundesliga goal of the season. Earlier in the week, he assisted on a goal in Dortmund's Champions League rout of Legia Warsaw. He started his third straight game for Dortmund on Tuesday, a league match against Wolfsburg.
GALLERY: Christian Pulisic's budding career
Whether Pulisic would entertain a move to MLS is another story entirely. The likes of Liverpool and RB Leipzig made lucrative offers to Dortmund for him this summer, and the club stood firm on its stance that it would not be selling him for any price, as SI's Grant Wahl reported. Pulisic is under contract with Dortmund through 2019.
Pulisic is coming off a pair of standout showings with the U.S. in World Cup qualifying, scoring twice and assisting on another in a 6-0 rout of St. Vincent and the Grenadines and assisting Jozy Altidore in a 4-0 win over Trinidad & Tobago.