‘Thank you Kai’ £150k-a-week star excited after Chelsea announcement OFFICIALLY made
Chelsea winger Callum Hudson-Odoi has signed a season-long loan deal with Bayer Leverkusen and expressed gratitude to Kai Havertz for persuading him to try his luck overseas.
The 21-year-old Hudson-Odoi hasn’t played a competitive minute of football since March 2 against Luton in the FA Cup and was an inactive substitute in the Blues’ last three Premier League games.
His prospects of seeing action at either wing-back or in attack have been further hampered by the additions of Raheem Sterling, Carney Chukwuemeka, and Marc Cucurella. This summer, the decision was taken to depart the club in order to get some playing time.
Hudson-Odoi chose to come to the Bundesliga for the upcoming season because he knew he needed some playing time before the World Cup, and Leverkusen were interested in signing him.
However, there is no provision in the deal for the Bundesliga team to purchase the Chelsea winger, which means he will return to London in the summer.
Hudson-Odoi said: “I’m definitely excited. I think it’s a new experience for me – I haven’t been anywhere else but Chelsea.
“The project [is attractive]. I said to the family that I want to go out there and make sure that I’m playing football and get the opportunity to play in front of great fans. It’s massive for me to come here.
“Kai Havertz told me it’s amazing, obviously, that everyone around that he’s been with the past years have been amazing for him.
“He enjoyed every moment of it and he said you’ll love it over there – just go, do you and be confident and everything will go well.”