Blues manager, Maurizio Sarri thinks putting too much pressure on 18-year-old Callum Hudson-Odoi could be “dangerous” for his progression at Chelsea.
Hudson-Odoi, 18, scored from off the bench for Chelsea as they beat Dynamo Kiev 3-0 in the Europa League quarter-finals
The youngster impressed in pre-season under Sarri but has found regular first-team opportunities few and far between this season and was subject of serious transfer interest from Bayern Munich in the January transfer window.
Hudson odoi ⚽️ Chelsea 3 Dynamo Kiev 0 #CHEDYN #ChelseaFC #EuropaLeague #ChelseaFC #UEL #ChelseaDynamo
Credit @EuropaLeague
bt sport pic.twitter.com/kYydN5lmtY— Uk_goals (@Uk__goals) March 7, 2019
Chelsea fans are very excited about Hudson-Odoi’s promise and were chanting for him to come on in the second half.
When asked if Hudson-Odoi can fulfill his promise at Chelsea, Sarri said: “I am convinced, he doesn’t have to do anything to convince me. He is a very good player. He needs to improve. At 18 he can’t be at the top.
“He will be ready to be at the top at 22 or 23 years. We need to improve without the media of the pressure of the media, fans the club. His training is really very good.
“When you have pressure when you are 18 it is dangerous, you can lose the target. The target is to improve. So it is dangerous. This is why I don’t like to speak about him.”
Playing their seventh game in 18 days, Sarri’s men netted courtesy of Pedro and a sumptuous Willian free-kick before Hudson-Odoi added a late third as Chelsea recorded their third win on the spin in all competitions.
It was a dominant display from the Blues and Sarri thought his side should have scored many more goals.
“Especially in the first half we could have won by more,” he said.
“It is a good result, we were lucky not to concede a goal. We have to play the second leg and go with a level of attention. We want to qualify.”
Callum Hudson-Odoi has been directly involved in 7 goals in his last 7 games for Chelsea (at Stamford Bridge).
– 4 goals ⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️
– 3 assists 🅰️🅰️🅰️ pic.twitter.com/PMnsdNmZsC— TweetChelseaUK (@TweetChelseaUK) March 7, 2019
Here is a highlight of all the goals scored in the face off:
Europa League Chelsea vs Dynamo kyiv 3 – 0 All Goal Highlights 7/3/2019 pic.twitter.com/PFQecRku4K— Coupe du monde (@Moussa74651701) March 7, 2019