Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri has made only one signing so far this month and the Italian is currently entangled in a battle to keep some of his best players.
Cesc Fabregas has already made up his mind to leave the Blues and Tammy Abraham’s situation over at Aston Villa is not helping either.
And amongst all this, there have been reports that Bayern Munich has shown an interest in Chelsea’s Callum Hudson-Odoi.
Odoi came up through the ranks at Chelsea but the 18-year-old is yet to become a first team regular.
While the Blues had been pretty calm about the player’s future up until now but suddenly with Bayern Munich coming into the picture, Maurizio Sarri seems to have hit the panic button.
The Italian recently told Chelsea’s official website that Callum Hudson-Odoi is ready to start for the Blues.
‘I think so, he’s ready,’ said Sarri.
‘Of course, we have very important players in the same position, so do you want Willian or Pedro on the bench? I can play with only two wingers, three is difficult.
‘But I think now he is ready. He can play but of course, sometimes he will be on the bench, like Willian or Pedro, but now I can start to consider him at the same level.
‘I know for me he is a very important player, he‘s young and now he’s improving, especially in the defensive phase.
‘I think he played really well in the last match. He was in trouble in the game at Watford but only because he had a problem in his hamstring.
‘I’m really very happy with him, I don’t know the situation with the club but for me, he’s an important player.’
Sarri has also predicted that it would be better for Odoi is he choose to ditch Bayern Munich and stay back at Chelsea.
‘I don’t think so because he’s an English player, he’s very young, he has the future and I think he has a very great future here, with the national team and Chelsea,
‘To stay here is better for him. I want to speak to him only about the pitch, about movements and the defensive phase. I’m very happy because he’s improved in the defensive phase in a very important way in the last month.
‘First of all, I want good players. But we are lucky because our Academy is very good. It’s important because if you have five or six players from the academy you can have soul, more than when you have 25 foreign players.’
Chelsea will take on Tottenham Hotspur in the EFL Cup semi-final first leg at Wembley on Tuesday and the Chelsea boss should put money where his mouth is and name Callum Hudson-Odoi in the first XI.
That though will be easier said than done since Odoi is primarily a left winger – a position which is currently occupied by Eden Hazard.
This means if Hudson-Odoi does start vs Spurs then he will either play as an attacking midfielder or as a right-winger.
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