The Blues wonderkid hasn’t progressed as rapidly as some have hoped but he has moved to temper expectations about his future
Callum Hudson-Odoi has admitted that the last 18 months have been a “rollercoaster” while stating his belief that he is still young enough to develop into a top player for Chelsea and England.
The 20-year-old has started just four of the Blues’ last 13 games, which has seen him drop from England’s senior team into the Under-21 side.
Away from the pressure of senior football, U21 manager Aidy Boothroyd has seen Hudson-Odoi become one of his star players ahead of the U21 European Championship in March.
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Hudson-Odoi spoke about the pressure and expectation around him to become a superstar after he scored and earned man of the match in the 5-0 win over Albania on Tuesday.
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“I am only 20! Sometimes people forget the age because I have been around for a while,” Hudson-Odoi told reporters at Molineux. “I started young. I have just turned 20. I have kicked on well and I can keep progressing day in day out.
“The last 18 months have been strange, not something I’d have liked, but we have to deal with it. I want to look to the future and hopefully better things will come. I put pressure on myself. I want to prove myself every time, do my best every game.
“Sometimes there is a lot of expectation and you just have to play your normal game, and the result will go your way. I just say to myself keep being positive, things might go wrong but be positive and hope the end result will be good.
“It has been a rollercoaster, up and down, up and down. But stuff like that you move on from and think of the present and the future. For myself, I want to make sure I am training every day. I am working my hardest, trying to get in the team and working my way back to the senior England team.
“I keep trying, working. In the last 18 months, I have enjoyed bits and not enjoyed bits. I feel I am getting more confident game by game. Gareth [Southgate] and Aidy say: ‘Get your crosses across goal, get shots on target, and keep being a threat, the player everyone fears when you play them.’
“I want to be on the ball. Try to work as hard as possible for the team as well. I want to get wins and trophies as well.”
There will be now four months of club football after three international breaks in close succession with Hudson-Odoi getting another chance to earn more minutes under Frank Lampard.
Chelsea will find Hudson-Odoi in better shape following valuable minutes on the international scene. However, he isn’t guaranteed to start against Newcastle United on Saturday having been overlooked in recent weeks despite the absence of both Christian Pulisic and Kai Havertz.
Still, Hudson-Odoi is willing to be patient to earn Lampard’s trust once again.
“You train hard at Chelsea every day, the managers are always looking and you always want to prove a point that you are ready when called upon,” he added. “When I train and play in games, I want to score, assist, work hard for the team and always improve myself on the pitch and to prove a point as well.
“No matter what it is, I want to give 100 per cent, keep trying and staying positive. I have the right people behind me, giving me the right instructions and keeping me grounded. I am really happy with the people in the background with that and I want to get back into the team.”
