Grading USMNT players in Italy: Christian Pulisic is one of the best players in Serie A, American or otherwise

We’re currently seven games into the 2024-25 Serie A season and the five USMNT players getting regular playing time are already showing their potential. Almost all of them had an impressive start of the year, none more so than Christian Pulisic who has already scored five goals in the league and showed himself to be one of the best players playing in Serie A. Let’s go around Italy and grade all the American international players, how they performed so far and what we can expect from them in the coming months.

Yunus Musah, AC Milan

The American midfielder hasn’t had his best possible start with AC Milan as he only played five games so far in all competitions for a total of 147 minutes. The new Rossoneri coach Paulo Fonseca changed the tactical system, as he’s playing with a 4-4-2 and Musah has been pushed out of the rotations or at least become less of a contributor than when he was playing more under Stefano Pioli. In this system, Musah can play as a central midfielder and provided one assist in the Serie A opening game against Torino for the last minute equalizer scored by Noah Okafor. However, it looks like Fonseca doesn’t see him as a central player as he was for Pioli and we can’t rule out a possible loan move in January if he doesn’t play more in the next weeks. Grade: C

Timothy Weah, Juventus

Weah’s start of the season was affected by injuries as he only played three games so far (134 minutes in total), but also scored his first goal for Juventus in the season opener against Como, before suffering an injury that forced coach Thiago Motta to replace him at halftime. Injuries apart, Weah is facing a lot of competition in his role as both new signings Nico Gonzalez and Francisco Conceicao are playing in his role of attacking winger and this is having an impact on his game time. Interestingly enough, Motta decided to test him as a central striker in the second half of the game against Napoli that ended 0-0. The Italian coach replaced Serbian striker Dusan Vlahovic with Weah, who showed some potential in that position, where he used to play at Lille before as well and it can become a valuable option also for USMNT new manager Mauricio Pochettino in the future if he will play more there for his club. Grade: C+

Gianluca Busio, Venezia

The American midfielder was forced out of the first three Serie A games of the season due to an injury, but since his return after the September international break he hasn’t missed a match and already scored one goal against Genoa in the only win of the season so far for the team coached by Eusebio Di Francesco. Busio is a key player for the newly promoted side as he’s one of the best players on their roster and they can’t play without him, as this start of the season already showed. Grade: B

Weston McKennie, Juventus

Only Pulisic had a better start among the USMNT players than McKennie, who had a key role in two Champions League wins for Juventus. McKennie played 358 minutes so far in all competitions, and already scored his first goal of the season against PSV and also was a key player against RB Leipzig. McKennie’s recovery led to the winning goal scored by Francisco Conceicao against the German side. The American midfielder was out of the pre-season tour as talks over a new contract deal were stalling, but since he was reintegrated in the team he has been again one of the surprises of this squad after a positive 2023-24 campaign under coach Massimiliano Allegri. It seems like every year McKennie has to prove himself, but every year he does. Grade: A-

Christian Pulisic, AC Milan 

By far, one of the best Serie A players of this start to the season. The USMNT winger scored six goals in the first nine games of the season between Serie A and the Champions League, and also provided two assists. Pulisic started in all nine games he played and has scored in four consecutive Serie A games for Milan, becoming the first USMNT player to do so in a top-five European league since Queens Park Rangers’ Roy Wegerle in 1990, per Opta. Pulisic scored some nice goals, including the ones in the Rossoneri win over city rivals Inter and in the opening Champions League game against Liverpool. His new tactical position as a right winger in the 4-4-2 is working out very well for him and we can expect more from him. Grade: A