Fulham, Nottingham Forest and Milan have all been linked with an approach to sign Chelsea’s out-of-favour winger Callum Hudson-Odoi this summer, after the 22-year-old’s unspectacular loan spell at Bayer Leverkusen this past season.
Clubs circle as Hudson-Odoi’s future looks shaky
- Callum Hudson-Odoi has one year left on his existing Chelsea deal, but hasn’t played regularly – injuries, fierce competition for places – while a loan move to Germany three seasons after Bayern links didn’t work well
- The 22-year-old winger started 13 games in Bundesliga and Champions League match play this past season but despite a few promising flashes, wasn’t consistent nor productive enough to warrant more than that
- Fulham, Nottingham Forest among Premier League sides linked with a move while Milan are monitoring his situation, though they are said to harbour hopes of signing his club teammate Christian Pulisic instead
Chelsea are patting themselves on the back, having sanctioned moves for half-a-dozen players – most of them first-team regulars – as June turns into July and the 2023-24 preseason campaign is fast approaching under new management.
Mateo Kovacic (Manchester City) and Kai Havertz (Arsenal) will stay in England after joining the division’s top two sides this past season.
Meanwhile, Kalidou Koulibaly, Edouard Mendy and N’Golo Kanté are among an ever-increasing list of big names who’ve joined Saudi Arabia’s riches this summer.
Tiemoue Bakayoko is a free agent after his £40m move from Monaco in 2017 yielded just 43 appearances across all competitions – he’s managed more across two loan spells with Milan and Napoli – and they failed to recoup any of that money.
Elsewhere, academy product Mason Mount (Manchester United) and long-standing veteran Cesar Azpilicueta (Atletico) are among those set to depart in the coming days.
There’s still more trimming to be done, with Callum Hudson-Odoi’s future expected to be settled in the coming weeks. The fee quoted is £15m for another academy product who, like many from Cobham, are ready to seek pastures new.
Fabrizio Romano reported there was interest from Saudi Arabia, but that’s not a priority for a player with three England caps and a desire to return to prominence after a few stagnant years’ worth of development.
Okay, so where could he go instead?
Fulham would offer an opportunity for Hudson-Odoi to remain in west London under Marco Silva, having overperformed expectations and finished eight points above the Blues themselves this past season.
Having narrowly avoided relegation, Nottingham Forest need more creative depth themselves while West Ham are said to also have an interest, though they’re prioritising a move for Leicester’s Harvey Barnes at a cut-price fee given their demise.
Milan have been in contact with Chelsea over the past month about a series of players, including another youth product in Ruben Loftus-Cheek (£15m) and Pulisic.
However, they’re believed to want other targets more such as Villarreal’s Samuel Chukwueze and the former Borussia Dortmund forward.
Hudson-Odoi, much like Mount and Loftus-Cheek before him, was a highly-regarded academy player whose breakthrough prompted admiring glances from Germany.
Bayern’s long-standing interest prompted them to agree terms on a five-year extension worth £120,00-a-week in September 2019, though he has struggled since.
After rupturing his achilles tendon in April that same year, he’s been frequently sidelined by troublesome issues elsewhere.
Hamstring, ankle, hip and more achilles problems have eroded his confidence – to the point where Thomas Tuchel’s use of him at wing-back was lauded at the time.
That was a decision borne out of necessity because of personnel at the German’s disposal, as Callum found himself slowly phased out of the team with Reece James a seamless fit in a position he quickly made his own. It’s another cautionary tale of what can happen if you agree terms on a lengthy contract when you’re not playing.
Picture source: Getty Images
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