Former Chelsea manager Ruud Gullit insists Callum Hudson-Odoi must continue to seek an exit from Chelsea for the benefit of his career.
Hudson-Odoi marked his first start since the January window transfer has closed with a goal in the Blues’ 3-0 victory over Malmo in the Europa League. Yet while the teenager impressed against the Swedish side, first-team minutes would still prove scarce for Hudson-Odoi as Sarri has admitted he would need to sell one winger in order for the 18-year-old to get regular playing time in the senior squad.
The lack of significant playing time at Chelsea has seen Hudson-Odoi refrain from signing a new contract at Stamford Bridge, while he has also been the subject of heavy interest from Bayern Munich in the last transfer window. The Wandsworth-born forward put in a transfer request in a bid to force a move away but club suits rejected it, and while he has put in a string of regular minutes since, he is yet to start a Premier League match under Sarri.
The 18-year-old is still understood to be seeking a move away from Stamford Bridge and former Blues manager Gullit thinks Hudson-Odoi should continue his bid to force a transfer away in order to play regular first-team minutes. Gullit utilised the situation of Jadon Sancho in order to highlight the benefits of young English talent looking to play abroad.
“It’s the best thing to do for a lot of English youngsters. Go abroad, go and play, go wherever because the top six in England have no time for youngsters, they need instant success,” said the former Blues manager. “Holland, Germany, France, wherever, because you play, you play at a different level and because you play a different football. Sancho, fantastic. He would never get a chance in England. And now all of a sudden they say ‘oh we want this player, we want him back’. How much is he worth now?”
According to the former Chelsea player-manager, research have proven that youngsters who are playing regular football have better chances to make it to the top than those who aren’t. “There is a lot of players in Holland who will say to ‘don’t go to the Premier League’ because you don’t play anyway, and then you get a loan somewhere,” added Gullit.
“It has been done by a professor, they found out that all the youngsters that play from 18 to 19 constantly playing first-team football, they’re going to make it later on. The ones who play in the second team, on the bench, they will not make it.”
“Hudson-Odoi, it’s a big thing for him, I would say to him to go. You have all these players, Willian in front of you, Pedro in front of you, what are you going to do? You’re not going to play.”
“The young boys now, go and play football. Go to Germany, go wherever, go and play football. You have to play games, especially at that age. If Sancho didn’t decide that he wanted to leave Man City to go to Germany, would he be playing now? No, he’d be nowhere near it.”
