‘It’s difficult to pick him, he’s not impressing me enough’ — Gareth Southgate says of Chelsea player
Hudson-Odoi had also rejected a chance to play for the England U21s as he seeks to cement his place in the Chelsea team and also fight his way into the Three Lions squad.
However, Hudson has impressed for Chelsea of late, as the 20-year-old has stepped up to the plate in the absence of Romelu Lukaku and Timo Werner.
The Chelsea youngster is pushing for a place back in the England national team having earned a a call up two years ago.
England boss Gareth Southgate has hailed Hudson-Odoi’s recent form and has also stated that the young winger has missed an opportunity to impress him by refusing to play for the young England squad.
“I had a good chat with Callum before last month’s get-together because it is difficult if you are a young player,” said Southgate.
“You’ve been with the senior team, he went back to play with the U21s in the last cycle and then to go again in a second cycle, I can understand is a difficult challenge
“So we would still like him to do that but he wants to back himself with his Chelsea form to get back into the seniors and I totally respect that.
“So by not being in the Under-21s he misses a bit of an opportunity to impress us and come across if we need players for training and those sorts of things.
“He has had a couple of good matches for Chelsea. I know Thomas [Tuchel] is guarded about how much he goes with praise on that but it is good to see him back playing and playing more regularly at first-team level and he knows the challenge that’s ahead.
“But he knows also that we are constantly watching him and he is young and talented enough to mount a serious challenge as we move forward.”