Former Chelsea right-back Frank Sinclair has rather boldly said that his old club don’t need to splash out on the transfer of Jadon Sancho as they already have a similar talent in Callum Hudson-Odoi.
The west London giants have brought through a number of top young players in recent times, with manager Frank Lampard doing well to give chances to academy players like Mason Mount, Tammy Abraham, Reece James and Hudson-Odoi, to name a few.
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This could be a good strategy for Chelsea moving forward, as they perhaps don’t have quite that same edge in the transfer market as they used to earlier on in the Roman Abramovich era.
The Blues could now do well to avoid spending big on someone like Sancho, despite the fact that the Borussia Dortmund winger looks an ideal long-term replacement for Eden Hazard.
Sinclair isn’t convinced, however, that the England international would even get into Lampard’s first XI due to the presence of Hudson-Odoi, whom he thinks it might be better to develop instead.
“Jadon Sancho is a fantastic player and a great talent but he plays in similar positions to the likes of Callum Hudson-Odoi and Willian, so there will be tough competition for places if he does join in the summer,’ Sinclair told GentingBet, as quoted by the Metro.
“Whether he is a Chelsea target, I don’t know, as Chelsea have more than enough players in those positions that can play in those wide areas or in the Number 10 role – they have plenty of options.
“So, I don’t think that it is a position that Chelsea are panicking over but if a player of Jadon’s ability becomes available then you have to look at it.
“There are rumours that he is Chelsea fan as well, which will help. But for me, it’s not a position that Chelsea are desperate for.
“Is Sancho any better than Hudson-Odoi on that left-hand side? When you look at the potential of both players, would you spend close to £150million, which I’d expect would cost, to bring Jadon Sancho to this country or would you just stick to Hudson-Odoi?
“Personally, I don’t think Jadon Sancho automatically gets into Chelsea’s team.”