Eyes on Christian Pulisic during Borussia Dortmund tour

Christian Pulisic has a lot going on.

The 19-year-old attacker from Hershey, Pennsylvania, is the face of Borussia Dortmund’s three-game tour through the United States that kicks off Friday night against Premier League champion Manchester City at Soldier Field. He’s already been anointed the leader of the next generation of the U.S. national team, and was one of the few to actually improve his reputation after its disastrous attempt to qualify for the 2018 World Cup.

And because of his success and potential to become the greatest American player ever, Pulisic has drawn the attention of some of the biggest clubs in England. Dortmund, though it’s historically the second-biggest team in Germany behind Bayern Munich, has a reputation of being a selling club and some believe it’s only a matter of time before they cash in on Pulisic, who is one of the most valuable young players in the world.

But if that’s bothering Pulisic, he isn’t saying. Instead, his focus is on his current club and preparing for the upcoming Bundesliga season.

“It’s not distracting at all to me. I don’t pay too much attention to it,” Pulisic told the media Thursday. “Right now I’m focused with Dortmund. I want to have a good preseason. That’s all I can focus on right now.”

If Pulisic has much more to say, it’s hard to know. Despite his obvious stature as the most known Dortmund player in the U.S. and the focus of the tour’s marketing efforts, he was not made available at a pregame news conference Thursday night, and his comments to reporters came at a sponsored event earlier in the day.

That was somewhat surprising since Pulisic is the focus of any U.S. soccer fan who’s looking forward to better days for the national team. After all, it was his jersey LeBron James was photographed wearing, and he’s the player who figures to be in his prime for the qualifying campaign for the 2022 World Cup.

Fortunately for American fans invested in his progress, Pulisic seems to be taking the expectations in stride.

“Of course there’s pressure as always, in any sport, in the position I’m in but I have a good support system around me,” Pulisic said. “I can always talk to my friends and my family. For me, it’s not too difficult.”