The reality is, one cannot blame Pulisic for the fee Borussia Dortmund demanded, and for which Chelsea was willing to pay. Pulisic’s value is a function of a number of market forces, the first being his actual valuation, much of which is predicated on his potential to be a star – influenced by his success with the first-team last season, and his young age – the fact that he has been usurped in the line up, by arguably, a younger, brighter star in Jadon Sancho should not detract from the ceiling Dortmund themselves believed he had as early as a year ago. Secondly, his value is added to by the inflationary effects of the recent Premier League TV deal, which injected massive sums of money into the coffers of every club in the division, which agents and club’s throughout Europe watched with a mix of trepidation and delight – maybe they wouldn’t be able to compete with mid-range Premier League clubs for mid-range players, but they would enjoy the benefits of selling those mid-range players on to the Premier League for profit. Finally, and most uniquely, the fact that Pulisic is American adds to his valuation. It is no secret that nearly every European league is making a calculated push to expand in the U.S. ‘soccer’ market – long seen as a mecca of sports capital. Pulisic acts as an entrée into this market, while also enjoying increased value because of his centrality in the American media hype-machine. The United States is used to having a marketable superstar at the top of nearly every sport, and why should football be any different? To the American media, Pulisic represents the latest in a long line of potential global soccer stars (examples include: Freddie Adu, Julian Green, Landon Donovan, and Jozy Altidore) built up because the game needs a local face to market on networks such as ESPN and NBCSN.