Chelsea manager Frank Lampard predicts 'huge uplift' for Christian Pulisic beyond even last season's star turn

Injuries have dented Pulisic's progress this season but he has impressed Lampard in recent weeks

Frank Lampard has predicted a "huge uplift" in Christian Pulisic's performances for Chelsea despite being impressed by the American's first 18 months in the Premier League.

Pulisic signed from German giants Borussia Dortmund for $73million in January 2018, joining up with his new club the following summer. Consistency was hard for Pulisic to find but in his peak form, much of which came in the summer months of the Premier League's Project Restart, he established himself as one of Chelsea's foremost attacking talents, inspiring the Blues' surge to a top four finish and FA Cup Final.

The muscle injuries that troubled Pulisic last season have continued into this campaign, which he missed the start of as well as nearly a month in the autumn, but his goal in a 3-1 win over Leeds saw him become the fastest American player to reach 10 goals in the Premier League.

Indeed, while acknowledging that Pulisic's fellow Chelsea attackers Timo Werner and Kai Havertz needed time to adapt to the English game, Lampard was at pains to point out how swiftly the American had settled into the Premier League.

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Speaking ahead of Chelsea's game against Manchester City, Lampard said: "It was a pretty small adaptation period for him when you look at other top players - and I believe Christian is a top player - and their careers sometimes it takes a long time. For Christian it didn't take that long but he needed to become accustomed to the nature of it and his team-mates. He did that quickly and got in the team.

"Probably the things that broke him last year were injuries. In Restart his form was fantastic and as he has got back in the team again after injury his form has been really good. There's more to come because of the special talent he is. He's a big player for us. We're working as hard as we can to manage Christian and manage his fitness.

"The talent is undoubted. There's more to come because he's young. I'm delighted with him and I think there's a huge uplift coming even though I think his performance levels are really high."

In total Pulisic has made 46 appearances for Chelsea, scoring 13 goals and providing 10 assists.