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Chelsea U18 Callum Hudson-Odoi ready to make the jump to senior levels

By George Perry

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - APRIL 18: Callum Hudson-Odoi of Chelsea takes the ball past Sadou Diallo of Manchester City during the FA Youth Cup Final First Leg match between Manchester City and Chelsea at The Academy Stadium on April 18, 2017 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Jan Kruger/Getty Images)
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - APRIL 18: Callum Hudson-Odoi of Chelsea takes the ball past Sadou Diallo of Manchester City during the FA Youth Cup Final First Leg match between Manchester City and Chelsea at The Academy Stadium on April 18, 2017 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Jan Kruger/Getty Images) /
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Chelsea signed 16-year old Callum Hudson-Odoi to a three-year contract. This could signal the end of his time at the academy and the beginning of his trek through the loan system.

Callum Hudson-Odoi may be an early example of what Chelsea’s head of youth development Neil Bath explained over the weekend. Bath said the Blues were willing to send younger, weaker squads into youth tournaments in order to move their best young players out on loan earlier. At age 16 and with a stellar year with the U18’s behind him, Hudson-Odoi may be on his way to first team football.

Hudson-Odoi scored eight goals in 25 appearances for the U18’s last season, entering the squad as a 15-year old. He won the FA Youth Cup and Under-18 Premier League, scoring against Manchester City in the FA Youth Cup finals (at 2:20 in the video below. Watch it. Trust us.).

His precocious talents attracted interested from Juventus and Benfica, according to the Daily Mail. However, interest from Bristol City is more to the Blues’ liking. After signing Hudson-Odoi to a three year contract, he may follow in Tammy Abraham’s footsteps and join the Robins on loan.

Bristol City’s manager Lee Johnson is non-committal on any loan prospects for the coming season. “[I]t may be that this year we don’t take anybody from a Premier League club and it may be that we do that in January,” Johnson said.

Abraham set a new standard for loanees last season. Hudson-Odoi would be better off without the burden of trying to match that. However, Bristol City may find it hard to say no to a player who offers even a portion of what Abraham brought.

The Robins likely want to build a more permanent squad and not rely on a series of Premier League academy loans. But that project will take some time. Considering that Bristol City were a promotion hopeful early in the season before flirting with relegation in the spring, Johnson may not want to risk waiting to bring in some offensive punch.

Next: Chelsea loans will start younger to build 150-200 games experience

Tammy Abraham accounted for over one-third of the Robins’ goals. Callum Hudson-Odoi can help fill the offensive gap while Johnson looks for and develops permanent players.

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