Thomas Tuchel could save Chelsea around £51.8million by simply looking within his current squad this summer. According to reports, that figure is what the Blues have bid in order to match Paris Saint-Germain’s offer for Inter Milan wing-back Achraf Hakimi, though it has reportedly been rejected. Recent reports have suggested Hudson-Odoi could be moved on this summer amid more interest from Bayern Munich, but the Evening Standard have reported he is ‘determined’ to stay and fight for his place regardless of the club’s stance.
Thomas Tuchel said: “I didn’t know he hadn’t played wing-back before. Maybe it was a good thing I didn’t ask because maybe I would have doubted my decision! We just had one training session before the Wolves game. We were flying in on the same day and wondering what structure to implement to give the team a good feeling, and to have a solid block defensively but also to attack freely. To play with four you have to be very disciplined, and the automatisms between the line of four have to be very synchronised. So we opted for a back five and we didn’t want to get too defensive. We thought about trying Reece and Callum on the right side in training. Callum fitted very good and we wanted to have at least four offensive guys on the pitch from the start. We just let him drive and he did very good, showing all his qualities he has: the high speed, the quick recoveries, dribbles, good one-on-one.”
And what’s more, Hudson-Odoi himself has already said he is happy to play the position, despite being a winger by trade.
Callum Hudson-Odoi said: “I’ve never played wing-back or thought about playing there. So getting told I was going to play there was certainly something new to me but the manager helped me really well. He was explaining stuff, how to play that position, the things to do going forward and coming back. [It] was really helpful for me to get ready for the game. I watched some clips with him as well before the game to understand the positioning a bit so it helped me a lot and it was good to play there. Hopefully I can keep improving and hopefully keep doing well there.”
