Chelsea: Keeping Hudson-Odoi is a solid decision by the Blues

Chelsea stopped all negotiations with Bayern Munich for Callum Hudson-Odoi and that’s a wonderful decision by the Blues’ board.

It appears Chelsea will be keeping its promising star, Callum Hudson-Odoi, and that is the only decision the club should make on the young player. Any other decision would be premature and potentially disastrous for the Blues as they seek to return to Premier League and European dominance. Hudson-Odoi was one of the planet’s most celebrated young stars before an Achilles tear put him on the shelf—which was a shame—but he’s on the right track back.

The tendon rupture placed the budding young star on the shelf between April of 2019 and September of last year. He has struggled to regain the scintillating form which made him, and still does, the apple in Bayern Munich’s eye. The reigning winners of the UEFA Champions League don’t seem to make too many mistakes in their personnel evaluations as they continue to dominate the Bundesliga year after year, replacing older stars with younger ones. Clearly, Bayern sees potential in Hudson-Odoi, and while it may be masked by the impact of his injury, remains regardless.

Chelsea should learn the lessons of the past and not repeat them. Too often, the club has allowed future superstars to leave before allowing them to develop by granting them enough playing time. It is still painful to have to account for the dismal transfers of Kevin De Bruyne, Mohamed Salah, Romelu Lukaku and others. Another more recent ill-advised sale was of Tariq Lamptey, who played a sum total of one first team game for the Blues.

Though he was terrific in his effort last December against Arsenal, he was not signed to a long-term deal and was subsequently shipped out cheaply to Brighton last January and is now reportedly also the subject of Bayern Munich’s attention. Why this young player—who while diminutive in size, possesses blistering pace and can ignite a team from the right back position—was let go is anyone’s guess. The presence of Cesar Azpilicueta and Reece James notwithstanding, Lamptey should have been signed long-term. It’s another mistake and it could be another really bad one for Chelsea in the future—he’s that good.

The same can’t be allowed to happen with Hudson-Odoi. It’s the manager’s responsibility to provide Hudson-Odoi with the match time to allow him to regain full fitness. If Frank Lampard shows him the minutes on the pitch, he certainly has the potential to be that world class winger Chelsea fans know he can be. While commentary has been made about his training efforts and off field attitude, it’s important to keep in mind that the young player won’t be 20 years old until next month.

Hudson-Odoi has been in sight and in mind for the club and its fans seemingly for a decade. It’s not that long ago, but his arrival in the first team was certainly greatly anticipated. Unfortunately, Chelsea managers didn’t allow this phenom the opportunity to display his talent for the first team early on. When he finally was given the playing time, he was outstanding. Unfortunately, though, he suffered that very serious injury last year and his upward climb was forestalled.

It took great fortitude for the Blues to reject Bayern Munich’s offer to take Hudson-Odoi on loan with a staggering option—though not obligation, evidently—to subsequently buy the player for £70 million. However, the club did the right thing.

Hudson-Odoi may never recoup the form that made him almost unstoppable on the wing, but he nevertheless deserves every opportunity to regain that uncanny form and deploy it for the Blues. He’s just too good a player to do anything else with and there’s just too much to potentially lose.