“The first guy through the wall — he always gets bloody. Always. It’s the threat of not just the way of doing business, but in their minds, it’s threatening the game. But really what it’s threatening is their livelihoods. It’s threatening their jobs. It’s threatening the way that they do things. And every time that happens, whether it’s the government or a way of doing business or whatever it is, the people who are holding the reins — have their hands on the switch — they go crazy.”
— John Henry, “Moneyball”
DATELINE: Tuesday, June 10, 2025.
LOCATION: The Edge 100th floor observation deck, 30 Hudson Yards, Manhattan.
TIME: Noon ET.
NEW YORK (HRB) — “Captain America” is coming home.
New York City FC announced that Christian Pulisic, the 26-year-old captain of the U.S. Men’s National Team, will return to the United States for an extended run in Major League Soccer, signing a 30-month contract on Tuesday with the City Football Group club after NYCFC paid a $15 million transfer fee to AC Milan to acquire him.
Frustrated with a lack of playing time at the Italian powerhouse, Pulisic’s move to MLS sent shockwaves through the American soccer community, astounded to see the native of Hershey, PA in the prime of his soccer career shun European football to become the new symbolic face of stateside league, just as the 2026 FIFA World Cup looms on the horizon in the US next year.
Pulisic, whose career had stops at Borussia Dortmund, Chelsea and AC Milan, is the first top USMNT player to join MLS since Clint Dempsey left Tottenham Hotspur in England in 2013.
But Pulisic’s NYCFC wages, rumored to be $9 million per season as a NYCFC Designated Player, plus endorsements and a share of Apple TV MLS Season Pass revenue, will far exceed Dempsey’s estimated $6.6 million salary in 2014.
Here’s the transcript of how that press conference might go:
MLS Analyst Kaylyn Kyle: Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for joining us today for this exciting press conference. We have a special announcement to make regarding the career future of U.S Men’s National Team captain Christian Pulisic. Please welcome Christian, New York City FC CEO Brad Sims, and Major League Soccer commissioner Don Garber.
