Chelsea have reportedly rebuffed Bayern Munich’s latest attempt to prise Callum Hudson-Odoi away from Stamford Bridge this summer.
The 18-year-old will be spending the next few months continuing rehabilitation work as he looks to recover from an Achilles injury suffered in the back-end of last season.
SEE MORE: Personal terms agreed: Chelsea set to complete £40m signing in next 24 hours despite ban
It came after an impressive impact for the Blues, as the youngster provided six goals and seven assists in 29 appearances at both senior and youth level combined.
While he’s being widely tipped to enjoy a bright future at Chelsea and so will potentially be a crucial part of the new manager’s plans, his current contract does expire next summer and so that will be a concern for the club as transfer interest from Bayern seemingly refuses to go away.
According to Sky Sports, Chelsea have rejected a £22.5m offer from the Bavarian giants, which is now their fourth bid for the England international and is less than what they offered in January as they seemingly believe that his valuation is dropping the closer he gets to becoming a free agent.
Evidently, Chelsea don’t agree with that, but it remains to be seen if they are eventually persuaded to sell or if their resolve isn’t broken and they try to convince Hudson-Odoi to sign new terms on a long-term contract to put an end to talk over his future.
That would arguably be the sensible move regardless to protect their position in case he does leave next year, as they certainly wouldn’t want to see the talented youngster leave for nothing.
With Frank Lampard continuing to be heavily linked with succeeding Maurizio Sarri, as per the Metro, his fine work with the youngsters at Derby County last season, coupled with Eden Hazard’s exit and Chelsea’s transfer ban, could all mean that Hudson-Odoi has plenty of chances next season when he returns from injury.
In turn, it seems sensible to continue to fend off Bayern for now, but perhaps if there is a sign that the winger isn’t willing to sign a new contract by January, then perhaps a cut-price deal in the New Year will be necessary to at least get something for him.
