Chelsea have made their decision regarding Callum Hudson-Odoi as the January transfer window gets closer. The 22-year-old is on loan at Bayer Leverkusen after being convinced to not leave permanently earlier this summer by Todd Boehly.
Having fallen out of favour with Thomas Tuchel and struggling with injury towards the end of last season, Hudson-Odoi was prepared to leave his boyhood club in search of first-team minutes and gained plenty of interest. The new owners were keen for the Cobham graduate to remain on the books though and got their wish.
He has now played in a preferred attacking role in Germany and has gone back to his previously tried central spot too. In a bid to find out just how good he is and can still become the loan looks to have benefited him so far despite Leverkusen's indifferent start to the campaign.
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With former Liverpool and Real Madrid midfielder, Xabi Alonso now in charge Hudson-Odoi has played an active role in their Champions League group stage, scoring his first and only goal for the club too.
After Tuchel left it appeared that his return to London could have been on the cards, especially after Graham Potter was an admirer over the summer when still at Brighton, but that isn't a possibility now, with Leverkusen sporting director Simon Rolfes revealing that the expiry of his recall clause has passed.
“We assumed that Callum would stay, but now we also have the certainty that he will stay with us,” he said to German publication Bild. “We’re happy about that, because he’s a very important player for us.”
Given Hudson-Odoi's versatility mixed with Potter's liking of him already, which has been added to by the injury issues in defence and attack this season, it wasn't out of the question that the England international would return to SW6, but that is now out of the equation and both parties can return their focus on other matters and reconvene over the summer.
In a bid to strengthen the forward areas in January Chelsea could look elsewhere in the market despite Hudson-Odoi's position in 2023, and Rafael Leao is one of the names in the ring to join. The Blues have pursued him this year and could yet pull off a staggering mid-season move according to CalcioMercato.
The Italian publication writes that his £70m January window price tag hasn't deterred Chelsea and could make a deal possible. Leao's contract is up in 2024 and contract extension talks have stalled, opening up the chance of him leaving San Siro.
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