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Chelsea: Five pivotal moments in Maurizio Sarri’s first Premier League season

By The Pride of London Staff

LONDON, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 24: Kepa Arrizabalaga of Chelsea reacts as he refuses to be substituted during the Carabao Cup Final between Chelsea and Manchester City at Wembley Stadium on February 24, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 24: Kepa Arrizabalaga of Chelsea reacts as he refuses to be substituted during the Carabao Cup Final between Chelsea and Manchester City at Wembley Stadium on February 24, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images) /
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LONDON, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 21: Callum Hudson-Odoi of Chelsea celebrates scoring the third goal during the UEFA Europa League Round of 32 Second Leg match between Chelsea and Malmo FF at Stamford Bridge on February 21, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images) /

2. Bayern Munich coming after Callum Hudson-Odoi (Abhishek Pancholi)

Until the winter transfer window opened, Maurizio Sarri was perfectly happy to let one of the Chelsea academy’s brightest talents stew on the bench or in the stands. And then it happened. “If you don’t appreciate them, someone else will” is as corny a phrase as can be, but that fit the situation perfectly.

Germany’s biggest club and European powerhouse, Bayern Munich, decided they rather liked the look of Hudson-Odoi and were willing to pull out all the stops to get the deal over the line. Hudson-Odoi’s camp apparently reciprocated the interest, seeing as the youngster was starved of meaningful minutes and had just a year and a half left on his Chelsea contract. A public declaration of their intent from Bayern sent alarm bells ringing in London.

Suddenly, Hudson-Odoi was being praised to the high heavens in every press conference by his manager, who hitherto only saw shortcomings in the youngster’s game. The shameless flattery and desperation to keep hold of the academy’s crown jewel began translating into game time for Hudson-Odoi, who took the opportunity with aplomb.

Out of the blue, Sarri played him for two full matches in the FA Cup, 79 minutes against Spurs in the Carabao Cup and 19 minutes in the Premier League, coincidentally when Bayern were sniffing around.

Finally, the rest of the world could see what the young man was capable of and why Gareth Southgate called him up to the senior England squad before Sarri could even spell his name correctly. But as soon as the window slammed shut, it was back to the bench for Hudson-Odoi.

light. Read. Chelsea's returning loan trio, Part 2 of 2: Time to (Mason) Mount up

In total, Hudson-Odoi played a total of 1107 minutes in all competitions this season, out of which January accounted for 278 minutes, or roughly 25% of all game time. His next chunk of minutes was in April, when Chelsea played five games in 15 days and Sarri had no option but to rotate his squad. Interestingly, it was during this period that Hudson-Odoi played his first 90 minutes in the Premier League.

The entire episode where Sarri had no option but to woo Hudson-Odoi and begrudgingly offer him playing time revealed the Italian as someone who will quite happily maintain the status quo until the wolves are at his door, and even then, do only the bare minimum necessary to keep them at bay.

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