Transfer Talk: Hudson-Odoi should answer Palace's Cal as Chelsea exit looms

Adam Drury
LiveScore
  
Callum Hudson-Odoi is set to leave Chelsea this summer
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Four years ago, Callum Hudson-Odoi signed a long-term contract at Chelsea and seemed to have the world at his feet.

But that promise has yet to materialise into something more substantial and a move away from Stamford Bridge with one year left on the deal seems imminent.

With several Premier League teams interested in signing Hudson-Odoi, we profile a career that needs to get back on track.

Sarri season

One of the sticks that Chelsea fans beat former manager Maurizio Sarri with was his reluctance to use Hudson-Odoi.

The winger scored five goals and assisted five more in the 2018-19 season but Sarri handed more league minutes to 18 other members of his squad.

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Hudson-Odoi made his England debut in the March of that season and provided an assist in his second cap, where he became the second-youngest player after Wayne Rooney to start a competitive match for the Three Lions.

So when Stamford Bridge legend Frank Lampard was appointed Blues boss in the summer of 2019, a serious breakthrough at club level seemed imminent.

Fizzling out

Callum Hudson-Odoi had a disappointing loan spell at Bayer Leverkusen last season

Having signed that new deal, however, things never got moving in the way that they were expected to.

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Hudson-Odoi made just seven Premier League starts in the 2019-20 campaign and only 10 the season after, with new boss Thomas Tuchel criticising his "attitude and energy" after bringing him on as a substitute and then taking him off again in a game at Southampton.

The malaise continued into a loan spell at Bayer Leverkusen last season, where he struggled for game time and scored just one goal.

With his Chelsea career fizzling out and his England prospects seemingly non-existent, he must get this summer's move right.

Natural talent

Hudson-Odoi first appeared in Chelsea's side as a team-mate of Eden Hazard and like the Belgian, it is his dribbling skills that stand him apart when he is at his best.

The 22-year-old ranked third for dribbles in the 2018-19 Europa League campaign — the competition in which he starred — while he also impressed in the Champions League the following campaign, registering 1.4 key passes and two dribbles per match.

Chelsea's academy graduate described Hazard as a "superb role model" but his own obvious natural talent has impressed his team-mates.

England skipper Harry Kane said after Hudson-Odoi's national team debut: "As an England team, we want that flair and flexibility. It's a great sign in this country that we're producing these type of players."

And upon signing him on loan, Bayer Leverkusen chief Simon Rolfes said: "He is a fast and penetrative winger. This will give our attacking game another special component."

Though that move did not work out, those skills still exist.

Eden Hazard inspired Callum Hudson-Odoi at Chelsea

Fly with the Eagles

Hudson-Odoi has interest from the Premier League and Europe as he looks to get his career back on track.

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Lazio and AC Milan have been credited as potential buyers, the former clearly being in the market for a winger having attempted to purchase Wilfried Zaha.

Nottingham Forest are always sniffing around when there is a signing to be made, while Fulham are reported to have made bids for the Chelsea attacker this summer.

But should Crystal Palace lose Zaha, that hotbed of London-born talent might be the best bet to get Hudson-Odoi's career going again.

Tags

Premier LeagueChelseaCrystal PalaceCallum Hudson-Odoi

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