Chelsea’s Callum Hudson-Odoi at another crossroads

It’s not good enough to be good enough for a Chelsea academy graduate. Fans, rightly or wrongly, hold academy players to much different standards than players that transfer in. Managers too. Callum Hudson-Odoi will know this all too well as he reaches yet another crossroads in his young career.

Back in 2018/2019, Callum Hudson-Odoi was easily the best Chelsea player in preseason. After starting in the Community Shield, he disappeared. The Blues were in the Europa League, where the only true silver lining for a club like Chelsea is being able to rotate and give youth a shot. That barely happened. Hudson-Odoi only started once the group was wrapped up. He didn’t even play in the Premier League until almost New Year’s. On New Year’s day Hudson-Odoi had three starts and another 35 minutes as a sub. And that’s including the Community Shield.

It’s no small wonder that, when Bayern Munich made their interest known, Hudson-Odoi was more than willing to oblige on his end. Chelsea, however, held firm. So much so that they ordered then manager Maurizio Sarri to use the young winger more, something that Sarri would later deny. Whatever the truth of it is, Hudson-Odoi did start to feature more and he justified his minutes. Unfortunately, he then suffered a major injury that ended his season early and delayed his start to the next season.

By the time he returned, Frank Lampard was manager and the youth revolution was in full swing. The early days, one can make the excuse that Hudson-Odoi was still recovering from his injury. But as time went on, that excuse became weaker and weaker. Though he was perfectly capable of turning up in matches and performing well, he was just as likely to ghost in matches. For much of the end of Lampard’s time as Chelsea manager, Hudson-Odoi found himself on the fringe.

Things seemed to change with Thomas Tuchel’s arrival, at least initially. Though Hudson-Odoi is an attacker by trade, Tuchel fielded him as a right wingback. A wingback for Tuchel is not to dissimilar to a winger, so it was not a rough adjustment. But then Reece James came back into favor over time and, eventually, Cesar Azpilicueta was seen as an option there. Minutes became less and less for Hudson-Odoi and currently he seems more out of the XI than in.

On deadline day, there were rumors that Hudson-Odoi would be allowed a loan to Borussia Dortmund should Jules Kounde come in. The Kounde deal collapsed and allegedly Tuchel was not keen on losing Hudson-Odoi. So now he remains at Chelsea at least until January.

At wingback, he is arguably behind two players on each side. In the wide forward roles, he could possibly anywhere from fifth choice to last choice. It’s not due to a lack of talent or performance. For the most part under Tuchel, Hudson-Odoi has delivered. Arguably better than others that have played at wingback and in the wide forward roles at times.

But that brings us back to the top. Good enough isn’t good enough for Chelsea academy players. Hudson-Odoi has performed better at times than some of those starting over him. Yet, they continue to start over him. It’s all fine and good to say he should “compete” for a spot in training and then prove himself on the pitch, but that assumes a fair fight. Most managers, not just Tuchel, will prefer senior players over younger, more unproven players. That’s simply a reality of a game where the margins between success and failure are so slim and risks have to be minimized.

For the next six months, whenever Hudson-Odoi does play, he can’t just be good enough. With little match fitness, he’ll have to outperform those above him. Tuchel has shown that it is not impossible to win his favor, but it will be difficult. And that’s why, in Hudson-Odoi’s fourth season with the first team, everything feels so frustrating. He hasn’t been able to show his talents consistently in part due to his injury and in part due to not being given the same chance as others to do so.

Ruben Loftus-Cheek found himself in a very similar situation before the club finally allowed him to go on loan to Crystal Palace. There, he excelled before returning to Chelsea and quickly breaking through into the first team picture. He needed a loan away from the club to show Chelsea what they were missing. One has to wonder what would have happened had that loan come sooner or if Chelsea had given him the same opportunities as Palace ultimately did for them.

And that’s where Hudson-Odoi is currently. If he’s meant to be playing this season, then it’s great that he stayed. But if the time between now and January looks as it has in recent months for the winger, then one has to question why the club allowed the Dortmund loan to be denied. And Hudson-Odoi will eventually have to question what else he has to do to prove himself.

It’s another crossroads for the winger, just like when he opted to try for the Bayern Munich path. The talent is clearly there, but the opportunity isn’t. Dortmund would have been a fantastic chance and it would not have hurt Chelsea’s depth much if at all. But that path has closed now, and something will have to change before another Bayern Munich arrives.