Nottingham Forest are closing in on a deal to sign Callum Hudson-Odoi from Chelsea. The winger is keen to find a new challenge after falling out of favour at Stamford Bridge and Forest are offering him the chance to get his career back on track.
Hudson-Odoi has found it difficult since suffering a serious achilles injury in 2019 and Chelsea have spent the summer trying to find a buyer for a player who was once hailed as one of the best talents to emerge from their academy.
Fulham had been leading the race to sign the 22-year-old but withdrew their interest after failing to agree a fee with Chelsea. The path has cleared for Forest, however, and they are making strong progress during talks with a Chelsea.
While it is unclear if Hudson-Odoi wants to move to the City Ground he could benefit from being reunited with Forest’s manager, Steve Cooper. Hudson-Odoi played for Cooper at youth level for England.
Hudson-Odoi has a year remaining on his deal and Chelsea are keen to get him off the books. He spent last season on loan at Bayer Leverkusen but struggled during his time in Germany.
There will be sadness at another academy product leaving Chelsea, who have already sold Mason Mount to Manchester United this summer. Bayern Munich are in talks over a deal for Trevoh Chalobah and are interested in Conor Gallagher.
Burnley and West Ham have been tracking Ian Maatsen but the left-back could stay if Marc Cucurella joins United on loan. Mauricio Pochettino has been impressed with Maatsen since becoming Chelsea’s head coach.
Meanwhile Chelsea’s Tino Anjorin is set to make a short-term loan move to Portsmouth. The 21-year-old winger, who has had previous loans at Lokomotiv Moscow and Huddersfield, will go to the League One club until Christmas. All parties will then re-evaluate the situation.
Anjorin is looking forward to working with Jon Harley, the Portsmouth assistant head coach. Harley was at the Chelsea academy before he linked up with the Portsmouth manager, John Mousinho, in February.
Anjorin, capped by England at every level from under-15 to under-20, was the subject of interest from clubs in mainland Europe but Chelsea’s limited number of international loans meant that a move closer to home became preferable.
