Christian Pulisic Called the ‘LeBron James of Soccer’ in Cringeworthy ‘Pawn Stars’ Episode
U.S. men's national team forward Christian Pulisic became the unexpected star of an episode of Pawn Stars this weekend, but soccer fans have reason to be annoyed after the show's cringeworthy segment.
The segment began with a man looking to pawn a framed, signed Pulisic Chelsea jersey for $1,500. While stating that he was a big Pulisic fan, the man also said he needed money to "upgrade" his guitar. What followed was a series of hot takes that may or may not be entirely accurate but remain highly quotable.
“This guy's like the phenom guy, right? He's like the LeBron James of soccer?” Pawn Stars personality Corey Harrison asked.
“Definitely,” the potential seller said.
After Harrison continued to robotically list a series of Wikipedia facts about Pulisic's life, the store owner then asked what position the USMNT star played.
“Center midfield and sometimes center forward,” the man said without skipping a beat, even if he was entirely wrong.
The hopeful seller later said Pulisic “ended up being one of the top players in the Premier League, which for an American that's pretty far and few between.”
While Pulisic is the most expensive transfer in U.S. history, his 15 career Premier League goals in 59 appearances across two and a half seasons at Chelsea may not be enough to make him one of the league's top players just yet. To put it in perspective, six players in just last season, alone, scored more goals than the winger's respective career Premier League total.
The hyperbole continued when Harrison brought in an expert to authenticate Pulisic's signature.
“We think of guys like Messi or Ronaldo, and this kid's already being compared to all them,” the authenticator said.
In the end, the authenticator estimated the signed jersey would cost around $400 while saying that a signed, game-worn jersey could fetch upward of $5,000.
After the evaluation, Harrison decided against even making an offer.
“The guy [Pulisic] is phenomenal, but it would take a lot of real estate in my shop,” Harrison said. “There's stuff I could hang on my wall that would actually sell.”
Aside from the jersey, it appears as though the segment's blatant exaggeration also didn't sell among soccer fans, primarily among Chelsea supporters online.
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