January was a nightmarish month for Maurizio Sarri and Chelsea as they had to deal with persistent approaches from Bundesliga giants, Bayern Munich, who submitted multiple bids for 18-year-old sensation, Callum Hudson-Odoi.
While the Blues survived that transfer market onslaught, they are now bracing for another Bundesliga side to come for their youngster this summer. It is understood that Bundesliga title challengers, Borussia Dortmund, are ready to Bayern Munich in their bid to grab Hudson-Odoi from Stamford Bridge this summer.
Bayern failed with four bids for the teenage sensation which peaked at £35 million in January and are planning to make another offer at the end of the season, despite Chelsea warning them off, with Sarri describing Bayern as being disrespectful.
However, the Bavarians face competition from arch-rivals, Dortmund, who can use Hudson-Odoi’s new England team-mate Jadon Sancho as proof of the opportunities they give to youngsters. Sancho, for whom it is believed Manchester United have lined up a massive £100 million package to get him, has experienced a meteoric rise since dumping Manchester City for the Black and Yellows, making 26 Bundesliga starts for Dortmund this season and being named the top NxtGen player of the year recently.
Hudson-Odoi on the contrary is still waiting to make his first Premier League start at Stamford Bridge despite being touted as a great talent that needs to be unleashed in order to improve the potency of Chelsea’s attack.
Interestingly, the Blues already reached a pre-contract agreement to sign Christian Pulisic from Dortmund, with the American youngster set to arrive in the summer for £58 million. Despite the links that could give Dortmund the advantage in the race to try signing Hudson-Odoi, Bayern are still in pole position to sign the teenager who recently got his first call-up to the England national team.
And even with his lack of playing time in the Premier League, Hudson-Odoi was a late addition into Gareth Southgate’s England squad for the Euro 2020 qualifiers against Czech Republic and Montenegro following injuries.
But if he does leave Chelsea in the summer, Dortmund’s interest raises the prospect of a bidding war between the Bundesliga arch-rivals. The 18-year-old’s current contract will only have one year left to run at the end of this season, but that does not mean Chelsea will necessarily welcome bids.
With a transfer ban hanging over them and Eden Hazard expected to join Real Madrid, Chelsea will be desperate to to keep Hudson-Odoi – even if he won’t sign a new deal. Also, the Blues were willing to offer Hudson-Odoi a new £70,000-a-week contract in January and could return with an even bigger offer at the end of the season just to see that he stays.
But it remains to be seen whether or not the future of under pressure head coach Sarri will have any bearing on Hudson-Odoi’s future. Sarri’s position at the club remains under scrutiny and sources still believe he will be sacked, most likely in the summer, which could spark a re-think from Hudson-Odoi and his advisors.
Hudson-Odoi on his part is currently with Sancho on England duty and the pair have previously discussed the opportunities on offer in the Bundesliga. “Me and Callum are close friends,” said Sancho at the time. “I have told him the Bundesliga is a nice league. I just told him to do whatever is best for him and whatever makes him feel comfortable.”
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