Goal.com’s stalwart Chelsea reporter, Nizaar Kinsella, is reporting that Callum Hudson-Odoi is dragging his feet on signing a new deal with Chelsea.
It’s neither a surprising nor a unique situation for Chelsea, having recently faced similar condunrums with Tammy Abrahamf (resolved in our favor) and Dominic Solanke (resoled not in our faor0r)
Callum Hudson-Odoi remains reluctant to renew his Chelsea deal. Talk of a loan move should be joined by a permanent one tbh. He could be the next Jadon Sancho with interest overseas: https://t.co/X06YjuilS4 #CFC
— Nizaar Kinsella (@NizaarKinsella) November 22, 2018
The issue is that Hudson-Odoi can’t break into Maurizio Sarri’s lineup, not even on Europa League nights. Thus far this season he’s played a grand total of 35 minutes with the senior team, so his frustration is understandable, even if he’s still just 18 year old.
There have been rumbles for a few weeks now that he might go on loan in January. But he only has 18 months left on his contract and Chelsea prefer that youngsters re-commit to the club before going off in search of more minutes.
Hudson-Odoi was offered a five-year deal before the season started, which he declined to sign. And that’s still where matters stand right now.
Chelsea have been in this situation before. Last year they inked Tammy Abraham to a five year deal before letting him go to Swansea. Charly Musonda wasn’t sure about signing an extension but he eventually did so (for 4.5 years) last December, right before heading out to Celtic on a disastrous loan. This season there were faint rumors that Ethan Ampadu was hesitant to commit his future to Chelsea. But in September he pledged himself to the Blues through 2023 (and might himself be going out on loan in January.)
Callum Hudson-Odoi sparkled in the pre-season and there’s interest in him out there, from Bayern and Monaco among others. With his pace, his directness and his technical ability, he shows all the signs of eventually being able to make the jump to consistent senior team minutes.
Let’s hope that cooler heads prevail and that CHO signs a fat new contract before going off on loan.