Hudson-Odoi extension worth £150k plus add-ons per week — report

According to a report from Goal, Chelsea had to increase the wages offered to Callum Hudson-Odoi from an initial £100k per week to £150k, with potential to reach £180k on performance-based bonuses, thanks to the heavy pressure from Bayern Munich that dragged out this contract saga for well over six months.

Chelsea had tabled a five-year extension offer at £100k way back in November, but at the time Hudson-Odoi was barely playing. In fact, as confirmed by Hero of Baku Rob Green on The Byline podcast, it was precisely because of that conundrum that Hudson-Odoi handed in his (rejected) transfer request. Thankfully, his minutes increased markedly from there, as did the wages on offer. Now he’s set to be a cornerstone of Chelsea’s future and the extension is expected to be announced soon. And we all lived happily ever after.

While those numbers seem outrageous for an 18-year-old, it’s still a pittance compared to the millions getting thrown around in the transfer market these days. Chelsea’s maximum financial commitment to Hudson-Odoi is less than £10m per season — even two years ago, that would’ve put him firmly in the middle of the pack as far as Chelsea’s FFP costs are concerned, and that was before we spent £200m+ just in transfer fees on Kepa, Pulisic, Jorginho, and Kovacic.

Chelsea’s current highest-paid player is N’Golo Kanté, who earns around £300k per week in salary (and is undoubtedly worth every penny). Eden Hazard and Cesc Fabregas were two of the other very high earners on the team, before both leaving in the last year. Chelsea do pay some of the highest wages in all of football, but Hudson-Odoi’s wage packet is not excessive compared to other players we expect to be strong contributors to the cause.

And if he manages to hit all his bonuses and prove that he is indeed the real deal, the void left by Hazard’s exit might not be felt as greatly in the end.