At just 19-years-old, Callum Hudson-Odoi is a youngster for whom the limelight has been thrust upon.
Now, there’s fresh controversy over the young Englishman, who remains a reported target for us. Jamie Carragher has hit out at Chelsea manager, Maurizio Sarri, over comments he made about CHO.
After England’s game against Montenegro, the Italian told Sky Sports: “I saw the English national team for 20 minutes and Callum didn’t start very well on the right. He did very well on the left, immediately in his first action. But I know very well he prefers to play on the left.”
Speaking ahead of Chelsea’s meeting with Cardiff, Carra said on Super Sunday that the Chelsea boss has really put his foot in it.
“This is a lad who’s making his international debut. Why are you not watching the full game?” he complained.
“You could argue Sarri is watching a lot of his Chelsea team-mates, flicking the channels, but he doesn’t need to watch them, they are all 27, 28, 29. This is a young kid. Can he handle the spotlight of playing for England? This is a lad I’m trying to keep at my club.
“So to then just dismiss this lad’s international debut – maybe the biggest thing that’s ever happened to him as a footballer – I can just imagine the people above Sarri just shaking their head and thinking ‘why are you saying such a stupid thing in the press conference?
“I would not be surprised if the people at the top at Chelsea were onto the agent and trying to calm the situation down.”
Carra suggested that Sarri would have been better off pretending that he had watched the full 90 minutes of the England game.
He has a point – why would you dismiss your own player on their international debut, especially one as young as Hudson-Odoi?
As the misery continues for CHO the idea of him staying at Chelsea appears to be becoming increasingly remote.
He has the choice to play for any of Europe’s top clubs at this current juncture, but there could be a chance we might exploit the situation in London and rescue him from Stamford Bridge.