Pochettino books in Chelsea showdown talks for in-demand winger with club ‘open to selling’ star

Callum Hudson-Odoi is due to hold ‘crunch talks’ about the chances of him having a Chelsea future under Mauricio Pochettino, a report has revealed.

Chelsea had high hopes for Hudson-Odoi when he came through their academy, so much so that they turned down some serious offers from Bayern Munich for him. His progression has not followed the expected path since then, though.

Indeed, Hudson-Odoi was shipped out to Germany last year, but instead of Bayern, he ended up at Bayer Leverkusen on loan. It wasn’t a particularly fruitful spell, with just one goal from 21 appearances in all competitions. He only got seven starts in the Bundesliga under his belt.

Now, with only one year remaining on his contract at Stamford Bridge, Hudson-Odoi faces an uncertain future. According to the Daily Express, Chelsea are ‘open to selling’ him this summer.

And that will be for a much smaller fee than what Bayern were putting on the table a few years ago. It may even be a struggle for the Blues to get an eight-figure fee at this stage, but they will try.

The report claims Hudson-Odoi is due to have showdown talks with his current employers, whose new era under Mauricio Pochettino is about to commence.

The talks have been pencilled in for ‘early next week’, the report suggests. Chelsea are under pressure to sell players by the end of the month because of Financial Fair Play parameters.

They have already sanctioned the departures of players like N’Golo Kante, Mateo Kovacic, Kai Havertz, Kalidou Koulibaly, Hakim Ziyech and Edouard Mendy – even if not all of those moves have become official yet.

Whether Hudson-Odoi will have the chance to leave within the next week himself remains to be seen. Perhaps next week’s talks will merely be to set up a transfer for later in the summer, unless an immediate exit route opens up all of a sudden.

Hudson-Odoi linked with Premier League and Saudi suitors

The 22-year-old could have an opportunity to continue his career back in the Premier League, the report hints. Other sources have previously named Nottingham Forest as potential admirers of the attacking midfielder.

There has also been interest from Saudi Arabia, the same league where Kante has gone and Koulibaly, Ziyech and Mendy are following.

At this stage, though, Hudson-Odoi would prefer to remain in European football. He will still have a point to prove, but barring a U-turn popping up in next week’s talks, he might not get to do so with Chelsea.

As they aim to trim their squad for Pochettino to work with a more manageable group and for the club to balance the books, he might be one of the many casualties.

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