Pulisic maintains Banburyshire connections to Chelsea with £58m move

Borussia Dortmund have confirmed that Pulisic will join the Premier League club for £58m but the 20-year-old United States midfielder will not arrive at Stamford Bridge until the summer as he will be loaned back to the Bundesliga club until the end of the current season.

Pulisic’s fledgling football career started with Brackley Town Saints, where he played for a season in their under-sevens side while his parents lived locally before they moved back to the USA. He moved to Germany as a teenager where he has made more than 80 appearances for Dortmund.

Pulisic follows in the footsteps of Chris Hutchings and Kevin Wilson who began their careers in Banbury before moving to Chelsea.

Like Pulisic, Hutchings played youth football in Banbury before heading back to London where he was spotted by Chelsea playing for Harrow Borough. He went on to play for Brighton & Hove Albion and Huddersfield Town.

Wilson came through local junior side Ruscote Sports before joining Banbury United in the Southern League as a 17-year-old. He was spotted by Derby County and joined them before going on to play for Ipswich Town and Chelsea.