Friedel warns Pulisic against joining MLS too early

Former United States goalkeeper Brad Friedel believes it is too early for Christian Pulisic to consider joining the MLS, claiming it would be a poor decision for both parties.

Pulisic has not played club football in his native country, starting his professional career with Borussia Dortmund before representing Chelsea and AC Milan.

Since he joined Milan ahead of the 2023-24 season, only Lautaro Martinez (58) has directly contributed to more goals than Pulisic (50 – 31 goals, 19 assists) in Serie A.

The 27-year-old will be hoping to lead the USMNT at their home World Cup this summer, where they will face Paraguay, Australia and a qualifier in the group stage.

OUR GROUP FOR THE 2026 FIFA WORLD CUP! @Visa | #NeverChaseReality pic.twitter.com/YwIM9puGEK

— U.S. Soccer Men’s National Team (@USMNT) December 5, 2025

Pulisic stated his desire to one day play in MLS, but Friedel insisted that it is not a move he should consider in the near future.

“In the future, yes,” Friedel told GOAL if he wants to see Pulisic in MLS.

“It’s like this – just from a U.S. fan standpoint, I want as many of the best players for the national team playing at the highest level of competition they can, because that will make sure that the national team competes stronger against the world’s elite.

“I like it when players don’t know when their next contract is coming, they always have the next young player pushing to take their spot, they have to always get better.

“If somebody came in like your Weston McKennie and your Christian Pulisic, they would have so much power at an MLS club, I would worry that they wouldn’t be focused on just getting better.

“Eventually I would love to see Christian and Weston and Tyler [Adams] come back and all these guys finish their careers in MLS. That would be great. But in the peak of their career, I don’t think MLS is there yet.”