‘It Has Been A Rollercoaster’ – Chelsea Star Hudson-Odoi Speaks On ‘Strange’ Period Of Career

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‘It Has Been A Rollercoaster’ – Chelsea Star Hudson-Odoi Speaks On ‘Strange’ Period Of Career

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.

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.

“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.”