Chelsea have been given an injury boost ahead of their preseason tour to America, with an extra attacker being available for selection.
Thomas Tuchel is dealing with a squad that is already missing three senior players from last season, and more departures are expected as the summer window moves on, but the German manager will have an extra forward option for games against Club America, Charlotte, Udinese and Arsenal.
The Blues fly out to America on Friday, July 9, with several young squad members still uncertain of their futures as Todd Boehly attempts to revamp the squad in an attempt to sustain a serious title charge next season.
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One player who is sure to be on the plane is Callum Hudson-Odoi. The 21-year-old winger has been back training at Cobham for most of the summer, having only taken one week of break in order to prepare for the new campaign which gets under way in less the one month.
Speaking to the club website, Hudson-Odoi said: "The whole summer I’ve just been trying to build on my strength and my fitness, just focusing on me getting back to being myself really.
"It’s good to know I've started early to be as fit as possible before the boys came back. I’m definitely feeling much stronger. There’s a new trim for me as well, a new style for a new season.
"My main goal this summer and throughout the season is to be stronger. There were times in the season last year when I was running with the ball and feeling like I could get barged off it or I’m not as strong as I thought I was.
"I’ve been putting more muscle on in training to make sure I’m getting bigger so when the opponents come, I know that I’m strong enough to hold them off, or that I won’t get barged and I can barge them instead."
The academy graduate had a frustrating time last season, not playing a game after sustaining a damaging injury against Luton Town in March. Hudson-Odoi had previously started to cement a first team position for himself, taking advantage of other squad injuries to start four out of six games heading into the new year.
"It was a weird one," he explained. "It was a neurological thing where I had a tweaked nerve in my back and it stemmed all the way down through my body, so it then became difficult for me to retain muscle. There was no power really in my legs and everything was like ‘woah’. I was trying to pass the ball 10 yards but I had no power and I couldn’t even do it.
"I think it was also a post-coronavirus thing from December, which I couldn’t believe because it had been such a long time before. The issue started with my Achilles and then I was trying to use other parts of my body to make up for it, so for example when I was running I wasn’t running on my toes as much because my Achilles power wasn’t that strong.
"I was trying to find another way to run and then it started affecting my back but all of it is good now. My Achilles is strong again and my back is strong so everything is perfect. It’s one of those things but I’m glad to be back and to have all my power, strength and speed back is all that I can wish for."
Having played 126 matches for the Blues since his debut in 2018, Hudson-Odoi is a first-team regular, but has never managed to hold down a starting position in the team, instead acting as a rotational option. With Chelsea still looking to bring in extra attacking reinforcements this season and the news that Raheem Sterling could be a apart of the preseason tour, Hudson-Odoi has new competition.
football.london understands that several of Tuchel's current attackers, namely Timo Werner and Hakim Ziyech, are expected to leave the club this summer, opening up a chance for Hudson-Odoi if he can stay fit. He has previously had spells out of the time, including a prolonged delay in 2019, before which he had attracted attention from some of Europe's biggest clubs, including Bayern Munich.
"It's difficult. When I did my first Achilles injury, we were playing games week-in, week-out and I was enjoying myself playing Europa League quarter-finals," he admitted. "There was a big buzz thinking I could be involved in the semis and the final so to then to get hit with an injury like that was really disappointing."
"With this one, it’s one of those things and injuries happen but my main aim for the rest of my career as long as it goes is to stay injury-free as much as possible. I’m trying to do the right things to make sure that I’m 100 per cent and that I can give it my best every game."
There are still two years left on Hudson-Odoi's current contract and he looks set to remain at Chelsea to fight for regular first-team minutes. As a natural wide player he also suits a possible formation change that Tuchel is set to introduce.
It is said almost every season, but it does feel like a key time for his Chelsea career. "I want to be playing as much as possible," he said. "Regular football brings out the consistency so I want to just keep playing and playing as much as I can. Playing those 10 out of 11 games in my preferred position on the left side was massive for me because that’s where I know I can be at my best and do what I do as much as possible.
"We were winning games, top of the league and everything was going well, so to have an injury like that hits you hard but at the same time it motivates you to come back and return to where you were before."
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