Youth prodigy

Having joined Chelsea at Under-8 level, Hudson-Odoi made impressive progress through the Academy as a regular scorer and creator of goals throughout his schoolboy years. At the age of 16, he was a regular with the Blues’ youth side, playing a key role in our Treble-winning success at that level in 2016/17, and also helping England win the Under-17 World Cup in India later that year.

Senior debut

Hudson-Odoi’s impressive form at youth level did not go unnoticed and just over two months after his 17th birthday in January 2018, he got his first taste of senior football when he came on as a substitute for Pedro in a 3-0 victory over Newcastle United in the FA Cup. He went on to make four appearances for our senior side in 2017/18 as well as helping our Under-18s win a fifth consecutive FA Youth Cup and our development squad reach the semi-finals of the FA Trophy.

Making an impression

After impressing new manager Maurizio Sarri in pre-season, the youngster stepped up to the senior squad on a permanent basis in 2018/19, making his first senior start in the Community Shield against Manchester City and netting his first goal for the Blues in a 4-0 win over PAOK in the Europa League. He went on to score five goals in 24 games, was named the club’s Young Player of the Year and became Chelsea’s youngest-ever England international when he made his senior debut against Czech Republic in March 2019.

Bouncing back from injury

Hudson-Odoi was in scintillating form when he suffered an Achilles injury in April 2019 which ended his season early and kept him out of action for five months. However, in September, he committed his future to Chelsea by signing a five-contract before marking his return from injury with a goal in a 7-1 victory over Grimsby in the Carabao Cup. He ended the campaign with four goals and several assists in 35 appearances for Frank Lampard’s side.

100 and counting

Since Thomas Tuchel took charge of Chelsea last January, Hudson-Odoi has added some versatility to his game, regularly playing as a wing-back. He made his 100th senior appearance in our 3-0 win over Aston Villa in September and has been in excellent form of late, netting his first goal of the season with a cool finish in the 7-0 Premier League victory over Norwich City and setting up the winner in our 1-0 win at Malmo with a brilliant low cross for Hakim Ziyech.

While he has already made a big impression as a Chelsea player before his 21st birthday, there appears to be much more that Blues fans can look forward to from the highly talented youngster for years to come.

Happy Birthday Callum!