Legendary USMNT striker Landon Donovan thinks Christian Pulisic would have been better off joining Major League Soccer rather than AC Milan.

Reports indicate that the forward is close to completing a $22 million transfer away from Chelsea, where he spent the previous four years.

Even though the 24-year-old wasn’t always the Blues’ first choice, he should get more playing time with the Serie A powerhouses.

However, Donovan explained on Fox Sports why he thinks Pulisic would have been better off staying in the United States and signing a contract that would have guaranteed him significant playing time and a huge paycheck.

What did Donovan say about Pulisic’s transfer to AC Milan?

“The World Cup is coming in three years. This is once in a lifetime. He’s going to be in the prime of his career, his life as a soccer player, his earning potential — I’m sure he’s making plenty of money — but the ability to come to MLS kind of like [Lionel] Messi did. I’m not so sure that wasn’t a big reason for Messi, the World Cup coming here.

“I think it would have been a great move … for the Galaxy to go out and get Christian. Bring him here, pay whatever you have to pay him. Bring an American superstar who has global recognition back to MLS ahead of the World Cup. I think it would have been a great move and I can hear the Twitterverse going crazy.

“My biggest thing is he needs to play. I know we all said when he went to Chelsea, ‘He’s going to play a lot.’ He didn’t play a lot, especially last year. At Milan. I would think he’s going play a lot but you just don’t know.

“So leading into the World Cup, what if he spends the last six months leading into 2026 like he did this year, then what happens? He’s not playing a lot and he’s not in good form going into the World Cup.

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