Bayer Leverkusen: Callum Hudson-Odoi had to “leave” at Chelsea

Look for “killer instinct” at Bayer 04

Callum Hudson-Odoi made it to the Bundesliga this summer after several failed attempts. The 21-year-old winger joined Bayer 04 Leverkusen on loan from Chelsea after being specifically linked with Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund in previous transfer windows. This time, however, a change of scenery for the Englishman turned out to be unavoidable.

“My attitude was, ‘I have to get out of there,'” Hudson-Odoi said in an interview with “The Athletic”. By “there” is meant Chelsea FC, his youth club where he received the tools for professional football. Up until two months ago, the native of London was only active for the Londoners and made 72 appearances in the Premier League before his temporary departure. In the end, however, the perspective no longer fitted. Hudson-Odoi is by no means finished with the Blues – after all, Bayer 04 weren’t able to secure a purchase option. The agreement even allows for an early return in January. “I have to get out of there” is therefore only temporary.

And: “Not in a rude way, in the sense of: I don’t like the club or I don’t want to be in the club. Nothing like that. But I had to play football somewhere else. Start again. I want to do my best wherever I am. And then go back to Chelsea at the end of the loan,” stressed Hudson-Odoi. The hope for more playing time has definitely been fulfilled so far: the attacker made ten competitive appearances for the “Werkself” (one assist), and he was in the starting XI eight times. Despite the disappointing start to the season, he is convinced of his team-mates.

“I looked at the squad and saw how exciting it is. I knew Jeremie (Frimpong) because I played against him in the academy (when he was at Manchester City; ed.). He’s a lot faster and stronger than I thought – very good. There were also good people in management like Simon (sports director Rolfes; ed.), who tried everything to get me here. That was an important factor,” revealed Hudson-Odoi, who of course noticed that things usually work quite well with the Bundesliga and up-and-coming English talent. See Jude Bellingham, Jadon Sancho or Jamie Bynoe-Gittens.

Hudson-Odois failed transfer to Bayern is no longer an issue

“You look at the players you’ve played with over the years and say, ‘They’ve made it in the league too, they’re really good’. So I thought, ‘I’ll come here and try.'” said the offensive man, who has a Chelsea contract until 2024 and also “spoke to Kai Havertz a lot” before his move. “He said it’s a very good club, the people are great, the league is very good,” said Hudson-Odoi on record.

Even a torn Achilles tendon in the spring of 2019 did not prevent Bayern from making intensive efforts to hire him. The speculation only ended when “CHO” extended the contract long-term at Chelsea in September 2019. However, the big breakthrough did not materialize afterwards. The young professional couldn’t judge whether things would have gone differently if the Bayern transfer had been successful. “There’s no point in wallowing in the past.” The long absence was “an important factor for everything” at the time.

Hudon-Odoi said: “It’s very difficult to get over an injury like that and be back to where you were. Three or four months after my return, I still felt like it would take me another year to feel anything like who I was. It was a big shock. Mentally it was difficult because you don’t know what’s going to happen next. You don’t know if you’re good or bad… What helped me was the people who had my back – they always encouraged me and gave me a warm sense of support.”

Bayer Leverkusen’s Hudson-Odoi doesn’t want to speak badly of Tuchel

Under ex-coach Thomas Tuchel, who reportedly prevented a BVB transfer in the summer of 2021, he had to play far more defensively than he would have liked a few times. Nevertheless, he accepted every position without a murmur (“I never argued”) and tried to do the best. “I would never speak badly of him. He’s always been a good guy, a good person, on and off the pitch. It was just… with so many great players in the team, obviously you have to fight for your position and do your best. It was definitely difficult with him at times, but you have to keep going and do what you can.”

Despite the difficult sporting phase, the experience at Bayer is “very good for him,” explained Hudson-Odoi. The new trainer Xabi Alonso stands for intensity and attention to detail in the forms of training. “He’s definitely more hands-on than the other coaches I’ve had before.” He’s already pointed out areas for improvement: “He said to me: ‘You play really well, you work well, you get the ball and help create chances create. But you have to have that killer instinct to get into the box and score goals’. That’s one of the things I obviously need to build into my game.” At Leverkusen, the three-time England international is in the process of “getting back to myself” – “back to the pre-injury phase when I was more direct and dribbling and stuff like that “. Luckily, all he lacked was the appropriate goals and assists.

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