Christian Pulisic 'upset' with AC Milan playing time as Ruben Amorim says USMNT star 'very important'

AC Milan boss Ruben Amorim says an 'upset' Christian Pulisic will make his season debut this weekend but it won't be as a starter. Pulisic was injured in the United States' final World Cup game and then picked up a knock on his first day of club training, and the 27-year-old has been an unused sub in Milan's first three Serie A games. He's not happy about that. MORE — Serie A schedule, scores | Ranking Ballon d’Or favorites The 27-year-old has been one of Milan's best players over the past few seasons but faded badly last season and Milan made a coaching change to bring in former Manchester United boss Amorim. Anyone who recalls Amorim's United tenure knows he has his principles and doesn't often veer away from them. With Milan 2W-1D to start the season including a draw at Juventus, Amorim won't rock the boat just to make a disgruntled player feel better. Ruben Amorim on ‘unhappy’ Christian Pulisic: ‘He will get minutes’ Amorim says he likes that Pulisic is ornery about his lack of playing time and said there are plenty of reasons the American is yet to play, and that over time those will be remedied by performance. “Christian Pulisic is not happy because he didn’t play so far," Amorim said, translated by Fabrizio Romano. "But I like him a lot as a player, remember he was injured this summer." “I will never pick my Starting XI based on big names. These are my principles and won’t change. But I like Pulisic a lot, tomorrow he will get minutes." Ironically, the former Manchester United boss has pointed at another Premier League club as an example of what he wants to do with AC Milan, saying, "Look at Arsenal, it takes time to win titles and build a model." If we didn't know Amorim any better, that might feel like a shot across the bow of his former bosses. Milan go to Lazio at Noon ET Saturday before beginning their Europa League campaign on Wednesday versus Benfica. ⚫️ Rúben Amorim: “If you look at Arsenal, it takes time to win titles and build a model”. “That’s what I want to do here at AC Milan. It takes time, I want to win here and this is the vision”. pic.twitter.com/ETY7n0OUmd — Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) September 11, 2026