Former Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic has said that Christian Pulisic has plenty of talent within him and he will have a great future at the west London side.

The USA international was confirmed as a Blues player during the January transfer window but he was loaned back to Borussia Dortmund for the rest of the season.

As such, he will be formally joining his new teammates during pre-season training this summer and he has been backed to succeed by the cobatitive Croatian star, who fought tooth and nail for the Chelsea Blues whilst he was sationed on Fulham Road, alongside the likes of warriors John Terry and Frank Lampard.

Whilst Chelsea are still a far cry from being favourites for the Premier League next season - with most online betting sites placing them as third favourites behind City and Liverpool again for the 19/20 season, they are starting to build more of a coherent team, and bringing in young, hungry, talented players like Pulisic will help.

It's not just former professionals who are looking forward to America's Next Big Thing coming to Stamford Bridge, with Brazilian David Luiz excited with the prospect of working with the young attacker too - he said: “Christian is going to bring us a lot of talent. We are waiting for him to help him to try to develop fast and to help us. He is a great player and I think he is going to have a great future for us.”

Pulisic did not have the best of campaigns with Dortmund in the Bundesliga and he ended the season with just four goals and three assists to his name. Nonetheless, it could be said that he was regularly hampered with calf problems while the emergence of Jadon Sancho meant that he was often left on the substitutes’ bench.

At Chelsea, however, he is expected to command a regular starting role from the off and multiple sources have indicated that he could directly replace Eden Hazard on the left wing. Hazard has been the key to the club’s success over the past seven years but the Belgian appears destined to leave the club after turning down a new contract beyond next season.

Real Madrid have been regarded as the favourites to pursue the former Lille man and reports indicate that it is only a matter of time before the move is made official. Hazard is due to feature against Arsenal in this month’s Europa League final and the decision over his future is expected to be announced following the game.