Hudson-Odoi's Chelsea future in limbo ahead of meeting with ex-suitors Bayern

If things had panned out differently 12 months ago then Callum Hudson-Odoi would be training with Bayern Munich and preparing to face Chelsea on Saturday in the Champions League. Instead, he is gearing up for this weekend's meaningless match fighting for his Chelsea future.

Bayern had no fewer than four bids, at most offering in the region of £40m, rejected for Hudson-Odoi in a six-month period spanning January to June 2019. The Bundesliga champions had identified Hudson-Odoi as an ideal candidate to replace Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery.

Hudson-Odoi was even open to the move at one stage. With 12 months left to run on his Chelsea contract last summer, Bayern tried one final time to prise the England international away from Stamford Bridge only be shut down once again. This summer they signed Leroy Sane from Manchester City instead.

Chelsea gambled on Hudson-Odoi's future last summer. They could have lost him for nothing this summer but their roll of the dice paid off, as he signed a new long-term deal worth £180,000-a-week in September. With Maurizio Sarri gone and Eden Hazard sold, Hudson-Odoi appeared set for a more prominent role under Frank Lampard. The ex-Chelsea midfielder has been more willing to give youth a chance than any other manager in the Roman Abramovich-era but Hudson-Odoi has endured a season to forget.

The start of the campaign was always going to be slow. He only recovered from an Achilles tendon rupture in September after five months on the sidelines but then missed a further two months of the season with a hamstring problem in February. He then contracted Coronavirus in March, was arrested in May and had an ankle injury in June.

With Hakim Ziyech and Timo Werner signed and a deal in the works for Bayer Leverkusen starlet Kai Havertz, things are not overly encouraging for Hudson-Odoi heading into next season. Even with Pedro and Willian departing, it's safe to assume Ziyech and Werner are assured of regular playing time given the money invested and the same will be true of Havertz if signed. Then you factor in Christian Pulisic as the star of the team and Mason Mount, who is a Lampard favourite. It very quickly paints a picture that doesn't include Hudson-Odoi.

It's what makes Saturday's match with, ironically, Bayern so important for Hudson-Odoi. With Pedro and Pulisic sidelined and Willian set to leave, Hudson-Odoi is tipped for a rare start in Munich. This match is meaningless for Lampard after Chelsea lost the first leg 3-0 at home back in February but there is still plenty on the line for Hudson-Odoi. No one is expecting a match-winning performance from the teenager but he desperately needs to remind Lampard of his qualities. He is fighting for relevance on Saturday.

Despite only starting seven of his 22 Premier League appearances last season, only Willian (7) and Cesar Azpilicueta (6) managed more assists than the 19-year-old for Chelsea (5). Moreover, of players with at least 20 Premier League appearances in 2019/20, only Kevin De Bruyne registered an assist more frequently (one every 140 minutes) than Hudson-Odoi (every 170 minutes).

An Achilles tendon rupture can be severe, potentially-career changing, for any athlete, let alone someone reliant on speed and explosive moment like Hudson-Odoi. That would have been a big concern throughout his rehabilitation and ahead of his comeback but it doesn't appear to have affected him. He recorded 2.9 successful dribbles per 90 in the Premier League last season, up from 2.8 per 90 in his breakthrough campaign in 2018/19.

Dribble success rate fell from 70.6% in the Premier League in 2018/19 to 56.3% last term but that may simply be a confidence factor. In 2018/19 Hudson-Odoi was new on the block and impressing nearly every time he touched the ball. This season, however, he has just returned from the first serious injury of his career and has struggled to get a look-in under Lampard. It is difficult to build a rhythm to your performances when you are in and out of the team and in Hudson-Odoi's case no where near it for long stretches.

Hudson-Odoi used Chelsea's 2018/19 Europa League-winning season as a springboard to really catapult himself into the limelight. In fact, Hudson-Odoi was the best WhoScored rated player when excluding substitute appearances (9.07). Twelve months on and now he needs to use European competition to stay relevant for Lampard.