Over the international break, with Callum Hudson-Odoi serving notice on the international stage of his talents and intentions, the rumor mill has conjured up stories that run the full gamut of possibilities. Hudson-Odoi wants to leave.
Hudson-Odoi might be open to staying. Chelsea aren’t selling. Chelsea set minimum asking price. And so on.
Chelsea’s state media have been busy, too, whether that be the Facebook page posting a video of him scoring a tremendous individual effort against Liverpool, or Chelsea TV cobbling together a brief clip of his “rise” through the ranks, from the U10s to the senior men’s team — that short video is actually pretty cool, but as of right now, not on any easily embeddable platform (The 5th Stand app and the official website’s beyond cringy media round-up both need to die swift deaths).
Of course there is the picture of Sarri and Hudson-Odoi from Thursday’s training (seen at the top), taken by Chelsea’s usual photographer, which Hudson-Odoi (or his social media handlers) also made sure to post on his Instagram story.
The charm offensive of course extends to more tangible and impactful things as well, such as the reported £100k on offer in the next new contract attempt. The only trouble there is that it was never the money that was the issue for the 18-year-old.
So, to make it a less “Feel Good Friday”, as the official website prefaced the aforementioned brief video, here’s ESPN FC (not Liam Twomey specifically) with a “source” claiming that Hudson-Odoi is “still set on leaving” this summer (which matches what German media largely continue to peddle as well).
Party-poopers.