Callum Hudson-Odoi: Antonio Rudiger urges Chelsea to keep teen sensation

Chelsea defender Antonio Rudiger has told the club to do everything in their power to keep Callum Hudson-Odoi.

The 18-year-old winger showed what all the fuss is about by grabbing Chelsea’s second goal against Sheffield Wednesday during the 3-0 FA Cup victory on Sunday.

His heart is apparently set on a move to Bayern Munich and reports suggest he has handed in a transfer request, but the Blues are reluctant to sell.

And Rudiger believes it would be a travesty if the club were to lose one of their academy graduates.

“What I can say is clear: Chelsea have to make him stay,” he told the Evening Standard.

“It will be a pity if this young talent leaves us.

“He decides his future but Chelsea need to give him a new contract.”

Fans inside Stamford Bridge began chanting ‘Hudson-Odoi, we want you to stay” as he cut inside and fired a left-footed shot past the Wednesday keeper in the FA Cup fourth round tie.

And Rudiger echoed the thoughts of Chelsea assistant manager Gianfranco Zola, who insists the club are desperate for Hudson-Odoi to stay.

He said: “We want him to stay as well, we were singing too.

“He has a contract. We believe in what he can do for this team. I don’t think there are many 18-year-old players around Europe that are are playing as much as him in a big team.

“If you look at Juventus, all the big teams, they don’t have many 18-year-old players playing like we do.

“That shows that we believe in him, we think he can be an important player for us, so we will see what happens.

“We can do as much as we can do. From our point of view he has a lot of strong players next to him. But we still find the space for him to play.

“Did he look like he didn’t want to play? Yesterday in training he scored a fantastic goal.”