Sarri insists Hudson-Odoi will remain with Chelsea now, and in the future, too

The wind has changed. Until a few days ago, every news outlet was reporting how Callum Hudson-Odoi’s transfer to Bayern was a done deal and how Chelsea had messed up by allowing this to happen. It was guaranteed, only a matter of time, to be confirmed in the next 48 hours, yada yada. After all, it’s Bayern, right?

Wrong.

Not for the first time, Chelsea have pulled off the unthinkable against Bayern!

Yesterday, news broke that Chelsea rejected Hudson-Odoi’s transfer request. It’s worth nothing that it’s called transfer “request” for a reason. Request denied.

Even so, no one was celebrating quite yet as the report by BILD had a little caveat at the end. While it confirmed that Chelsea had indeed rejected Callum’s transfer request and that a winter move was impossible, but it maintained that a summer switch, well within the realm of possibilities, was still possible.

Well, Sarri heard those rumours loud and clear, too.

“As you know I don’t have the power [to get Callum] to sign a new contract. On the pitch I am very happy with him. The club told me in this market window he will remain with us for sure, and very probably in the next. I am really very happy with this. He is improving. I think he will be the future of our club and English football.

“I am not frustrated because on the pitch he is doing very well. I am not happy with the situation but every big team has the same problem. It is not easy to keep these young players. He is one of the best 18-year-old players in Europe. But the club told me he is out of the market and probably he will be in July.

“I don’t know [if he is happy]. But on the pitch he is superb.”

Well, there you have it. Chelsea’s youth crown jewel is probably not going to leave in the summer either, giving Chelsea around roughly a year to convince Hudson-Odoi to sign a new contract. After that, the winter transfer window will arrive and the youngster will only have six months left on his contract, making it necessary for us to sell or risk losing him for free.

Does it mean that we’ll play him every match just to appease him? Not quite. Callum will still only start if the situation suits the decision to do so.

“I cannot do anything, I don’t have the power to make him do that. It is impossible to promise him he will play every match. It depends on the situation.”

-Maurizio Sarri; source: Football.London

Not giving in to Bayern’s bullying is a great move to avoid setting a precedent for other clubs to easily poach talent from us as well, but now we have to follow that up with proper actions on the pitch as well.

Whatever Bayern or anyone else may or may not do, we have to show faith in these players, too.