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Christian Pulisic insists he is not worried about his contract situation at Chelsea and praised his teammates for maintaining their form amid ongoing takeover talk.
The USMNT international was speaking at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday ahead of a Champions League quarterfinal, first leg clash against Real Madrid as the Blues seek to defend the trophy they won last season.
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Chelsea’s ownership continues to be the subject of intense speculation with at least four bidders in the running to replace Roman Abramovich, who is selling the club having been sanctioned by the U.K. government for alleged ties to Russia president Vladimir Putin.
Pulisic has played a prominent role as the Blues have largely kept their season on track, winning six of their seven matches since Abramovich’s tenure first became uncertain before losing 4-1 to Brentford last weekend.
Pulisic, whose current deal is set to expire in the summer of 2024, has been linked with a summer move away from the club but he said: “Of course I still have years left on my contract. I’m feeling good, I’m happy here. We’ve been successful, we’ve done some great things as a team while I’ve been here.
“Currently, I am enjoying my football and I’m just going to finish the season out strong. That’s not something exactly I’m worried about right now but I’m feeling good right now.”
Asked about the off-field difficulties Chelsea have had to cope with in recent weeks, Pulisic continued: “I think the guys have done really well to deal with it first of all. You could see with everything that’s going on, the way the guys reacted and responded and continued to get result after result.
“Obviously this weekend was tough but the guys have done a great job and I don’t think anything is going to change going into the business end of the season. Even bigger games and I know that this team is going to step up and do the absolute best we can. Just focusing on the task at hand, focusing on the next game and that’s all we can do.”
Real coach Carlo Ancelotti is a doubt to make the game having failed to travel with his team to London after testing positive for COVID-19 last week.
The 62-year-old, who won a Premier League and FA Cup double during two years managing Chelsea between 2009 and 2011, is hoping to return a negative PCR test to allow him to fly to London in the hours before Wednesday’s game.
His opposite number, Thomas Tuchel, was forced to miss February’s Club World Cup semifinal for the same reason before making the trip to Abu Dhabi for the final and the Chelsea head coach says: “Nowadays you [have] virtual help so I’m pretty sure he can do the team-talks and can be in touch with players.
“But it is always better and much nicer to be there and have a direct influence. That’s what we as coaches love the most: to be in the middle of the group and be part of the group and if we can constantly communicate, not only with words but also with how you feel, with a smile.
“And when all this is missing it is strange. I hope he still makes it. I have information that he will try to arrive tomorrow in the evening. I personally hope he makes it. He is a big, big coach, a big personality and it would be nice to have him on the sidelines in this type of game.”
Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois told reporters on Tuesday that Ancelotti had participated in some team talks via video call but that the concern over his potential absence from the touchline was dampened by the fact that the Italian’s deputy is his own son, Davide.
Courtois, who spent seven years as a Chelsea player before joining Madrid in 2018, also added his thoughts on his former club’s ownership situation, expressing hope that they would remain a global force no matter who takes over from Abramovich.
“It’s been hard for the club and for the fans, you can see that the people that love Chelsea are putting all their energy together,” he said.
“The new owners they know the club they’re buying, to keep that spirit, I was part of Chelsea for seven years in total, that’s a big part, even though I went on loan, they gave me the chance to grow myself, to come back, being with Petr Cech, learning from him, winning two Premier Leagues, I hope the new owners understand the club they’re buying and Chelsea can keep being one of the best in the world.”
He added: “I’m in one of the best moments of my career and I hope to keep helping the team to keep clean sheets and making important saves. In the first leg it’s important, we saw in the first leg in Paris, in the second leg everything is possible in the Bernabeu, so I hope it can be a good game and a good result to take it to the Bernabeu.”
ESPN correspondent Alex Kirkland contributed to this report.