Chelsea football club has turned down Bayern Munich‘s interest in Callum Hudson-Odoi less than two days to the close of the transfer window.
The German Bundesliga champions want to bring the 19-year-old winger to Germany on loan with an option to buy him for £70 million. But Chelsea has made it clear that they are still interested in keeping the teenage winger at the club despite the availability of multiple options in that department of the squad.
Bayern’s interest in the England teenager first started as speculation until the coach of the German team, Hansi Flick, confirmed the club’s interest in Hudson-Odoi prior to Bayern’s game against Hertha Berlin on October 4.
The Bayern’s coach went on to describe the English football star as one of the best talents in his position who can not only play on the wings but can also play as a striker.
“I don’t know what will happen”, Hansi Flick said. “He’s one of the best talents on his position and can play as a winger and even as a striker. That’s why Bayern Munich is thinking about him.”
Bayern’s interest in Callum Hudson-Odoi has been a reason for concern for most Chelsea fans who believe in the youngster who has scored 9 goals and provided 11 assists in 66 games in all competitions since his first game for Chelsea in 2018.
Hudson-Odoi who is Chelsea’s academy graduate was reportedly not happy earlier in the season for the number of game time he was getting. Besides that, the fact that Chelsea was bringing in more established forwards like Hakim Ziyech, Timo Werner and Kai Havertz has been a cause of concern for the youngster.
However, Chelsea’s manager, Frank Lampard has made it clear that he still wants the youngster who still has 4 years left on his contract with Chelsea to remain at the club. He said though it is until the end of Monday (11 PM BST when the transfer window closes) that one could be sure of who is leaving or staying at the club.
“There is no definitive answer. By Monday we will know the answer,” Lampard said when asked about Bayern’s interest in Callum Hudson-Odoi after Chelsea’s 4-0 bashing of Crystal Palace on Saturday in which Hudson-Odoi played for 83 minutes.
“They (Bayern) might have declared their interest, which is one thing, but in terms of the squad, everything that happens by Monday will be things that are firstly good for us as a club, because Callum is our player, and what Callum wants comes into consideration.
“It has to be right for everybody. At the minute I want Callum as part of my squad, especially with what he offered up today and the second half against West Brom. That is where I am at.”
Bayern Munich’s third attempt to get Callum Hudson-Odoi
Though coach Frank Lampard has made it clear that Callum Hudson-Odoi could only leave the club if it is good for everyone, the possibility of that happening could be slim. However, the unthinkable could happen before 11 pm BST when the transfer window will close in England.
As it stands, if Chelsea fail to allow Hudson-Odoi to join Bayern Munich this summer, it will make it the third consecutive transfer window they have turned down Bayern’s interest in the 19-year-old forward.
The first attempt Bayern made to acquire the services of the youngster was in the 2019 January transfer window. They offered Chelsea £30 million for the youngster but Chelsea turned it down. Also, in the summer of 2019, Bayern Munich came for the services of Hudson-Odoi and Chelsea rejected their £22.5 million bid again.
So, as Frank Lampard has said, Monday will determine whether Chelsea will be able to hold on to Hudson-Odoi for more seasons or would finally allow Bayern Munich to win the youngster over.
