Callum Hudson-Odoi’s decision to lodge a transfer request this week after Bayern Munich’s £35m bid is a sign of changing times and a growing trend for young players at big Premier League clubs. Hudson-Odoi is trying to follow the path that has taken a lot of young English players abroad in recent years thanks to the success of Jadon Sancho at Borussia Dortmund and club partnerships with European sister clubs.
Three or four years ago it would have been rare for a young player at a top Premier League club to request a transfer to go to a European club. It’s interesting to see a young player at Chelsea now saying “I want to go” – not just on loan, but abroad permanently.
Hudson-Odoi did well last weekend and scored a great goal which exemplified why there is a lot of noise around him right now. I can certainly understand why Chelsea are battling to keep him because he is clearly a big talent, but from the player’s perspective it is tricky to be held back from leaving for Bayern when the alternative is the odd sub appearance and cup cameo. Unless something else is happening in the background and Eden Hazard or Willian is going to go in the summer, why not let a talented young player leave to play regularly at one of the biggest clubs in Europe?
Hazard, Willian and Pedro are clearly ahead of Hudson-Odoi in the pecking order and which will not change since those are established Chelsea players. Or should it change? If the club are willing to turn down a £35m bid tehn maybe that justifies him playing far more regularly for Chelsea.
Ademola Lookman had a similar problem when he went on loan to RB Leipzig last year and Everton were quite stubborn about letting him go back there this season. But he returned to the Everton substitutes’ bench initially. If young players are capable of playing 90 minutes every week at European clubs why prevent them from doing that? Since this recent trend, gone are the days when they are content with sitting on the first-team bench with irregular cameos. Now they are ready and willing to expand their horizons to develop at a faster rate than they could at home. Sometimes clubs take their ownership of a young player for granted and do not necessarily do the best thing for their development.
There are many clever contractual ways to let a young player continue his career elsewhere while still having first option to bring them back in future. Contracts can include a buyback clause such as Barcelona had with Cesc Fàbregas, or a sell-on clause where the development club benefit financially from all the work invested in the young player. But I don’t understand a situation where clubs dangle a carrot and let young players play in a few cup games where he does well but then doesn’t ever play in the league.
The price tag reflects how much Bayern wanted him – they made four bids in total. Chelsea are not a club renowned for bringing through young players. Ruben Loftus-Cheek is the best to come through in the past five years but he had to go to Crystal Palace to get a regular game. Perhaps if Loftus-Cheek went to a bigger overseas club he would have become an established player sooner. However, it may be a sign that Chelsea are sending out a message that they value their highly rated young players, of which they have many.
Tottenham have established players who have come through the ranks such as Harry Kane and Harry Winks so it would be great to see Chelsea put faith in Hudson‑Odoi and give him a more consistent chance.
But without Sancho doing so well since he left Manchester City for Germany, I don’t think the trend would be as prominent. He was called up to the England squad and has really been the poster boy for young English players going abroad. All his peers know him well and will be speaking to him to find out what it’s like. He will be telling them how much he is enjoying it and not just the football – all these things that young lads appreciate.
The fear for English players has always been that you might risk a place in the national team if you go abroad but now with all the technology we have, and social media, you are able to watch goals and assists every week, which means his performances are just as noticeable as anyone’s in the Premier League. You can’t really get away from Sancho on Instagram! If Sancho was ever going to leave Dortmund then I’m sure the bid would be for a lot more than £35m. So why not go abroad?
Obviously, as someone who is playing overseas, I can only recommend it as a life experience. It can actually help to go and do something like that when you are still very young. You are more adaptable to different types of coaching and different ways of playing because you are still learning. When you’re older you have established principles in your mind.
I had to leave my house and my friends and family behind, which adds to the difficulty, but when you’re young you don’t think about that. You just want to play football every day and score goals. I think it’s a win-win situation. It’s a bit like going to university, like so many people do at that age – you’re a sponge and you meet all these new friends and experience all these new things. And you develop.
For a few years some English clubs have had close connections with clubs in Europe such as Chelsea’s with Vitesse, but Bayern’s interest in Hudson-Odoi has shown there is another level of opportunity in Europe . Hopefully it will help our young players and the England national team to keep improving. The old argument has always been that the path is blocked for young players because of so many established overseas internationals in the Premier League. But now you can go elsewhere else and make your name.
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