10 January Transfers Everyone Wants To See: #5 Calum Hudson-Odoi
Callum Hudson-Odoi of Chelsea celebrates his second goal, Chelsea's fourth, with team mates during the FA Youth Cup Final second leg between Chelsea and Arsenal at Emirates Stadium on April 30, 2018 in London, England.
(April 29, 2018 - Source: Justin Setterfield/Getty Images Europe)
No matter how good some players are, football players or otherwise – they kind of need a bigger turf or neighbourhood to show that they belong, to prove that they have the “it” factor. Such is the story of some of the most exciting professional footballers in the game today, they can only become as big as the club they play for and we have a few names that many would want to see move to other pastures. Some have been rumoured away from their clubs and some haven’t but sooner rather than later, transfers are inevitable. Chelsea have some work to do holding onto the fifth player on our list.
Son of former Hearts of Oak (a Ghanaian Premier League side) midfielder, Bismark Odoi, 18 year-old Calum Hudson Odoi has already become a subject of major speculation. After helping Chelsea’s Academy team to a quadruple in the 2017/18 season, he majorly introduced himself to the world in the Blues’ pre-season games, particularly against Arsenal. Odoi constantly asked rocket-science like questions of Hector Bellerin on the right flank, skipping past him with lightning pace after getting little answers from the Spanish right-back. It was only pre-season but he would have a lasting impact on a host of Europe’s big boys. With 18 months left on his contract and Chelsea still to pen him to a new deal which has become increasingly harder given the player has hardly gotten game time under Maurizio Sarri, Bayern Munich and Dortmund are reportedly monitoring the teenager, on the clock. The Bundesliga champions are eager to strengthen their attack with more youthful players given the imminent departure of long-time servants in Robben and Ribbery while Dortmund, who got a lot from their last ‘heist’ of former Manchester City’s Jadon Sancho and would want to continue in that direction. The 2017 World Cup winner with England-U17 is still eligible to play for Ghana and should you want to get more insight on the kind of player he is, just think of the word electric. He defines it more than it defines him.
Let’s hope Chelsea’s predatory and not very helpful youth system of young players won’t get in his way, as it is for one Ghanaian, Baba Rahman.
“After helping Chelsea’s Academy team to a quadruple in the 2017/18 season, he majorly introduced himself to the world in the Blues’ pre-season games, particularly against Arsenal. Odoi constantly asked rocket-science like questions of Hector Bellerin on the right flank, skipping past him with lightning pace after getting little answers from the Spanish right-back.”