For the entirety of Callum Hudson-Odoi’s playing career, he’s only ever played for two teams: Chelsea and England. After breaking through both sides’ respective youth outfits, the 20-year-old has established himself as a fully-fledged England international, while he’s also made 57 appearances for the Blues. Despite that, the Wandsworth-born winger is at a crossroads, with his Chelsea and England futures coming into question. So, is it time for Hudson-Odoi to consider his options?
Will the Euro 2020 Snub Come Back to Haunt England?
In 2019, Hudson-Odoi was regarded as one of the best talents in world football, let alone just in the Premier League. However, since then, he’s failed to kick on and take his game to the next level. As a result of this, the England manager, Gareth Southgate, left him out of the Three Lions squad for the 2020 European Championships.
England, who are 13/2 in odds for EURO 2020 to win the tournament as of June 21st, have Jadon Sancho, Marcus Rashford, and Raheem Sterling at their disposal, so Hudson-Odoi’s omission isn’t that surprising. In other words, while this promising player has three international caps to his name, it’s unclear how many more await him.
While Southgate isn’t opposed to bringing young players through and into the senior team, a lack of minutes at Stamford Bridge has seen the 20-year-old fall down the international pecking order. This leaves Hudson-Odoi with a decision to make.
The Chelsea winger is eligible to play for Ghana, and the Black Stars are hoping to persuade the attacker to switch allegiances. At the time of writing, Hudson-Odoi hasn’t shut the door on the possibility. That said, if he were to change, he could come back to haunt England later down the line.
As touched on above, Hudson-Odoi isn’t only at an international crossroads. Since Thomas Tuchel took over at Chelsea in January 2021, the 20-year-old has played 18 times for the German manager. However, most of those appearances came from the bench, with the attacker starting only one of seven Champions League games.
Moreover, the Wandsworth-born winger also featured from the start in just seven of 19 Premier League games. Although he got opportunities, they were often limited, and Tuchel didn’t trust him to play a role from the quarter-finals onwards as Chelsea went on to win the Champions League.
For a player who was once subject to a loan plus $97 million option to buy offer from Bayern Munich, Hudson-Odoi’s progress has somewhat stuttered. That said, a fresh start may be what the 20-year-old needs to get back into Southgate’s squad.
According to reports, Bayern is once again interested in the winger, and with Chelsea open to offers, a change may be on the horizon. However, if the attacker stays at Stamford Bridge, he’ll have to work hard to convince both Southgate and Tuchel that he deserves more playing time.
It’s Decision Time for Hudson-Odoi
Hudson-Odoi’s career trajectory hasn’t gone to plan over the past couple of seasons. The 20-year-old has dropped out of the international team, and he’s fallen out of favor at club level. That said, he has the talent to prove everyone wrong and secure regular minutes both with the Three Lions and the Blues. But that doesn’t hide the fact that he now faces some tough decisions.
Categories: News
Source: thpttranhungdao.edu.vn/en/
