‘CALLUM IS FUTURE OF CHELSEA’
vMAURIZIO SARRI is finally ready to give Callum Hudson-Odoi his longawaited first Premier League start against Brighton tonight.
And the Chelsea manager admitted: “He is our future.”
The Blues chief came under fire again from fans in Sunday’s lucky 2-1 win at Cardiff, as they sang, “We want Sarri out”.
Supporters were also not happy that, once more, the Italian left England starlet HudsonOdoi on the bench – just days after the 18-yearold made an impressive full international debut against Montenegro.
But last night Sarri insisted he had spotted Hudson-Odoi’s potential right from when he joined Chelsea last July, and has always rated the teenager.
However, Hudson-Odoi has played just 119 minutes of Premier League football this season, and 110 minutes for England.
Sarri, whose team must win tonight to keep their top-four challenge alive, insisted: “Callum is always in my mind. In my opinion, he is our future.
“Now he’s ready to play. Probably, he will start tonight, or in the next
match. After four or five training sessions, I realised Callum had very great potential.
“At that moment, he wasn’t ready to play at this level. But, during the season, he has improved.
“I decided, at the beginning of the season, he had to stay with us, and I put him in the squad.
“So I know Callum very well, and want him to improve more because the potential is higher. Of course, he is on my mind.”
Bayern Munich failed with three bids, the last of around £36million, to lure the teenager away from Stamford Bridge in January.
At one stage, HudsonOdoi even handed in a transfer request, before being told he had to stay.
The teenager (with Sarri, top) has started eight games this season, all in cup competitions, and netted five goals.
But the Italian has until now ignored the England player in the league, to the frustration of fans in a disappointing season. And Sarri caused outrage last week when revealing he had only watched 20 minutes of the youngster’s full international debut in the 5-1 win in Montenegro.
Sarri, who is tonight without Marcos Alonso (hamstring), brings both Eden Hazard (below) and N’Golo Kante back into his side.
But the former Napoli manager, who has also come under fire for his rigid tactics and style of football, insisted he won’t change his methods.
Sarri said: “I know only one way to change the fans’ minds: we have to win matches. We have to try to win a trophy.
“But I will not change, because I need to believe in what I do. Otherwise, it’s impossible for me to pass my ideas onto the players.”
Sarri also insisted the excellent start Chelsea made to the season under him, when they went 18 matches unbeaten, had lulled fans into a false sense of security.
He added: “Probably, we started the season too well. I expected problems. We had to face difficulties, and we have.
“The fans were used to winning and thought it was normal to continue. But it’s not normal. Other teams have improved.”