Christian Pulisic is not in AC Milan’s squad for a Tuesday trip to Bologna, and with every passing week, his dream pre-World Cup season looks more and more like another campaign hampered by unfortunate health.

Milan manager Max Allegri said Monday that Pulisic has “bursitis that’s bothering him.” Bursitis is inflammation of fluid-filled sacs near joints, and Pulisic’s is reportedly near his hip.

Allegri seemed to indicate that Pulisic’s condition wasn’t serious. The experienced Italian coach said that he and his staff hoped to get the American forward “back on track in the coming days.” In fact, Pulisic was in contention to travel and play Tuesday. “If he’s better today,” Allegri said early Monday, “we’ll take him.”

But Pulisic wasn’t better enough. And he’s now gone more than a month without scoring or assisting a goal. And, all of a sudden, his career-best form this past fall feels like a distant memory.

Pulisic could, of course, be fine and back to his best by the end of February. He could be better than ever by June, when he’ll be the face of the U.S. men’s national team at a home World Cup.

But his trajectory is no longer demonstrably upward. Since September, he has tallied four goals and zero assists for club and country. After propelling Milan to the top of Serie A, and announcing himself as a bonafide star, injuries, yet again, have interrupted his desire and talent.

For a while, that was the story of Pulisic’s young career. In his teens and early 20s, a variety of knocks and muscle strains — plus a variety of coaches with fluctuating opinions of him — complicated his development. He learned, however, to harden and manage his body, and by 2024, he seemed to have entered an uninterrupted prime. He contributed to 25 goals in his first season at Milan, and 27 in his second, the 2024-25 campaign.

Toward the tail end of that season, he heard his body and mind saying they needed a rest; so he took one. He used this past offseason to recharge, and returned from the break better than ever. When he was named Serie A’s September player of the month, he seemed to be exactly where every U.S. fan, teammate and coach wanted him to be — building toward the biggest tournament of his life.

Then came the physical ailments. There was the swelling in his ankle ahead of a U.S. friendly against Ecuador. Four days later, against Australia, there were two crunching tackles and a hamstring tear.

Pulisic recovered from that setback, and resumed his sterling season. In his first start back, he scored the only goal of a derby victory over Inter Milan. As 2026 neared, he was leading Serie A in goals plus assists per 90 minutes; and across all of Europe’s Big Five leagues, he was second to only Harry Kane.

He was, in other words, playing soccer at a level that no American man had previously reached. And he was doing it, seemingly, at the perfect time.

But the succession of injuries never relented.

Pulisic felt muscular discomfort in late November and missed a match against Lazio. A week later, he fell ill, felt “truly dead,” and had to settle for a place on the bench. He entered that game as a substitute and scored twice to turn a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 win over Torino. But he never fully re-found his prolific early-season rhythm.

Then, after Christmas, he felt some more discomfort, and Allegri held him out of another starting 11 in Milan’s first game of 2026. Three scoreless weeks later, he was back on the bench for a massive match at Roma.

And now, he’s out of the squad altogether.

The hope, for all involved, is that his absence this week is largely precautionary. Milan, in general, has taken a cautious approach to Pulisic’s fitness and workload this year after he played over 7,000 minutes the previous two seasons combined. In fact, there’s a chance that his stop-start season — he’s on pace to play less than 2,500 minutes in 2025-26 — could be a blessing in disguise, especially for the U.S., whose priority is full health by May.

But it is, bluntly, a bummer for Pulisic. A few short months ago, he was rising toward the biggest tournament of his life in the form of his life. He was a candidate for Serie A player of the year.

Now, at the very least, there’s uncertainty, or perhaps even concern, about how he’ll be feeling when he arrives in Atlanta on May 27 for the start of World Cup camp. The answer seems to depend on the roller coaster ride that his body has been on for much of his decade in pro soccer.