Christian Pulisic Injury: AC Milan and USMNT Return Halted Amid New Injury | OneFootball

Christian Pulisic picked up a new ankle injury while rehabbing a calf problem he picked up playing for AC Milan back on Dec. 6.

The U.S. men's national team star is now expected to miss the Supercoppa Italiana semifinal against Juventus on Friday, Jan. 3, former head coach Paulo Fonseca announced before Milan's match against Roma. Fonseca mentioned that Pulisic wasn't available even off the bench calling into question his availability heading into 2025.

Milan fired Fonseca today, Dec. 30, and appointed former Porto manager, Sérgio Conceição, as the club's new head coach. Conceição is contracted through the 2026 season, but he'll have to manage the early days of his tenure without his new team's top scorer.

Christian Pulisic Injury: AC Milan and USMNT Return Halted Amid New Injury

Pulisic, according to his old coach, will miss the Juventus match in the Supercoppa Italiana on Jan. 3. After that, Milan's next game isn't until Jan. 11 in Serie A against Cagliari followed by two quick turnarounds with games against Como and Juventus on Jan. 14 and 18 respectively.

Getting Pulisic back for at minimum the return of the Champions League on Jan. 22 should be a priority for Conceição given the team has a chance at qualifying directly for the round of 16. The situation in Italy's top flight is a bit different.

Milan sit eighth in Serie A on 27 points, eight behind Lazio for a Champions League qualification spot. Conceição must improve Milan's league form while also going as deep in Europe as possible. Getting Pulisic back by at least Cagliari would be a big boost for the Portuguese head coach.

Conceição should issue an update on Pulisic's status ahead of his first game in charge in the Supercoppa Italian semifinal.