Callum Hudson-Odoi has not yet made a decision on his future at Chelsea and will first seek talks with the club’s new manager, DEPREDICT understands.
The 22-year-old has spent the current campaign on loan with Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen on a deal which, despite the German side’s best attempts, does not include an option to buy, meaning Hudson-Odoi will return to Chelsea in the summer.
He has endured a challenging spell in Germany which has yielded just seven Bundesliga starts, having found minutes hard to come by under new manager Xabi Alonso.
When Hudson-Odoi returns to Chelsea, he will have 12 months on his contract and so a decision will have to be made on his future. The Blues are open to selling the winger but sources have stressed to DEPREDICT that Hudson-Odoi wants to speak with the new manager before making any decision on his future.
An agreement has been reached in principle with former Tottenham and PSG manager Mauricio Pochettino to move to Stamford Bridge this summer, with the Argentine set to be given plenty of input on which players are kept at Chelsea beyond this season.
Hudson-Odoi is understood to believe that he can still turn his Chelsea career around and wants to see whether the new manager, likely Pochettino, shares his vision.
If Hudson-Odoi does leave Chelsea, the Blues will push for a permanent sale instead of a loan, which would have to include a contract extension as the winger will be in the final 12 months of his current deal.
DEPREDICT understands that Hudson-Odoi is one of a number of Chelsea players on the radar of AC Milan. Ruben Loftus-Cheek is of serious interest to the Serie A side, who are also tracking Kalidou Koulibaly, Christian Pulisic and Hakim Ziyech.
The 22-year-old, famously a one-time £30m target for Bayern Munich, has managed 126 appearances for Chelsea, the last of which came in the Club World Cup final victory over Palmeiras in February 2022.