Callum Hudson-Odoi tells Chelsea ‘play me or lose me’ as Spain beckons

Chelsea face an uphill battle to convince Callum Hudson-Odoi to sign a contract with the teenager seeking assurances he will be granted more first-team football.

Hudson-Odoi, prolific in the youth set-up and impressive in pre-season, made his first start of the campaign in Thursday’s Europa League thrashing of Paok Salonika and scored his first senior goal in the 4-0 win. Yet the 18-year-old, who has 18 months left on his contract, had only previously benefited from two run-outs as a substitute against Bate Borisov in that competition this term and has yet to be included in a match-day squad in the Premier League.

The fact he has been training with the first team has ensured he no longer plays for his age group, and he has made only five appearances for the development under-23s side.

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While Chelsea offered him a five-year deal in the summer and would consider loaning him out in January, the England Under-17 World Cup winner is reluctant to sign as things stand.

Hudson-Odoi’s situation has attracted tentative interest from Spain and Germany, with Maurizio Sarri having suggested this week he is not yet convinced the forward is ready for top-flight football.

The player is understood to be reluctant to drop into the Championship in a temporary move. He is not expected to be involved on Sunday when Chelsea welcome their former manager Claudio Ranieri to Stamford Bridge with Fulham.

spent three days observing Sarri’s training methods at Cobham earlier this season, reciprocating an invitation extended by Ranieri in 1996 when he was managing Fiorentina. Sarri, who had been coaching at Antella, in the fifth and sixth tiers of Italian football, on the outskirts of Florence at the time had visited La Viola as the former banker sought to make his mark as a coach.

“When we met [recently], Maurizio asked: ‘Do you remember, I came to visit you?’ but I forget everything – even what happened yesterday,” said Ranieri, whose new team have won once at Stamford Bridge in 54 years.

“I was always open to other coaches. Now, when I have been out of work, I have often visited other teams to learn. I went to watch Jürgen Klopp at Borussia Dortmund, and look to go around the world. So I asked to come to see Maurizio at Chelsea, so I know everything about his training. But, believe me, it’s still difficult to stop them.”