When Newcastle United face AC Milan on Tuesday night, they will come up against plenty of familiar faces.
While the Champions League is largely unknown for a lot of Eddie Howe’s players, their opponents have a lot of Premier League pedigree in their ranks.
Newcastle will be facing the likes of Olivier Giroud and Ruben Loftus-Cheek, with the latter heavily linked with a transfer to St James’ Park earlier this year. In fact, he only joined AC Milan because they needed a midfielder following Sandro Tonali’s departure.
Another player who AC Milan currently have is Christian Pulisic, and he is also someone who Newcastle have looked to sign over the past 12 months. However, they actually turned him down just this summer.
Newcastle turned down chance to sign Christian Pulisic this summer
Last summer, Newcastle tried to bring Pulisic to Tyneside. Fabrizio Romano even claimed that the Magpies were ‘obsessed‘ with signing the 25-year-old.
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But that obsession did not lead to a deal, and rumours over a move to the North East continued. January came and went without a move away from Stamford Bridge, which brings us to the summer of 2023.
Pulisic was part of a group of Chelsea players who had no future under Mauricio Pochettino, meaning Newcastle had the chance to sign the winger they had been chasing for 12 months.
The Magpies were offered the opportunity to sign Pulisic, but said no. The Toon recruitment team snubbed the ‘amazing‘ American, who has since taken his talents to Italy.
Now his new employers are set to face Newcastle in the Champions League, giving Pulisic an immediate chance to prove that they made a mistake.
Pulisic will be extremely eager to have an impact on Tuesday night, but any impact looks like it will have to come off the bench. That is because it has been reported that he will be dropped by Stefano Pioli for the game against Newcastle United.