Callum Hudson-Odoi is enjoying his loan spell at Bayer Leverkusen after outlining his reasons for making the loan move from Chelsea in the summer.
The 21-year-old joined the Bundesliga side on a season-long loan for the 2022/23 season and has made three appearances in Germany, playing 189 minutes and providing one assist. He has also made two appearances for them in the Champions League, starting both games.
He is hoping for a consistent run of minutes to prove himself, something he has found hard to come by in recent seasons at Chelsea which has been affected by injury.
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Hudson-Odoi wants to make an impact at Leverkusen and although goals and assists are important, he hopes to become an influential figure in Gerardo Seoane’s side.
“Coming out here, my aim was to get as many games as possible and build on the fitness I haven’t really had in the last couple of seasons for Chelsea,” Hudson-Odoi told Sky Sports on his decision to join Leverkusen on loan.
“Obviously game wise, I’ve been playing a lot here and been really enjoying it, every moment of it. You want to try to help the team as much as possible, scoring and assisting goals. Even if it’s not scoring goals or assisting, but just being influential in the team and helping them.
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“I’m definitely enjoying my football at the moment, and I think it was the right time of my career to come here.
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Chelsea have a loan recall clause in January and can bring him back to Stamford Bridge in the winter if they wish. Hudson-Odoi left under Thomas Tuchel’s reign, but will return - either in January or next summer - with Graham Potter in charge.
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However, the winger remained coy on whether Chelsea would activate the clause in the deal and put all focus on his football on the pitch.
He added: “I can’t really say (what will happen) because at the end of the day it’s not up to me. I can only do what I can do now, for the club, to push myself to the max here, give everything that I can.
“But we don’t know what will happen between January, or from now until the end of the season, so we just wait and see.
“But right now, I’m just focusing on playing as much football here as possible and trying to help the team.”
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Chelsea teammate Kai Havertz joined from Leverkusen and was full of positive comments to Hudson-Odoi over a move to his former side.
"Kai had only great things to say,” Hudson-Odoi told the Daily Mail earlier this month.
“He said, 'I developed really well here, they pushed me on, they made me a better player, who I am today'.
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“He was urging me to come: 'Go and develop yourself, go and be you, be free. We know what you can do. Just go and show it consistently'.”
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Topics: Callum Hudson-Odoi, Chelsea, Bayer Leverkusen, Football
Matthew Debono