Callum Hudson-Odoi has a place in Cologne, just the other side of the Rhine river from Leverkusen, but he hasn’t seen the cathedral yet.
It’s a bit like living in Paris and not catching a glimpse of the Eiffel Tower. Professional footballers may have a different geography. There’s a daily training commute, a game every few days and the little down-time they get is spent in local restaurants or, in Hudson-Odoi’s case, chatting to loved ones back home in London on the phone. “It’s so hard for me to do anything (away from the pitch),” he says. “But once the (schedule) opens up a little bit, I’ll explore the area a bit more, for sure.”
It’s possible for the 21-year-old to not fully immerse himself in the local culture, but that can be forgiven. He’s not in Germany for the sight-seeing, but to be seen himself — ideally as another one of those young Englishmen who have been tearing it up in the BundesligaThese are the latest. “You look at the players you’ve played with throughout the years and you say to yourself, ‘They’ve done it in the league as well, they’re doing really well’. So I thought, ‘I’ll come over here and give it a shot’.”
Jude Bellingham? Jadon SanchoHudson-Odoi, Jamie Bynoe–Gittens, or Jamal Musiala (dual national), made their first steps in Germany as professional players. Hudson-Odoi had played 72 times in Germany before that. Premier LeagueBefore making the sideways leap to the BayArena. He does not need a platform as a stepping stone, but rather a platform that offers guaranteed play time at a high level. Champions LeagueParticipants Leverkusen were filled with attacking talent like striker Patrik Schick and French forwards Amine ADLI and Moussa Dili.
“I looked at the squad and saw how exciting it was,” he says. “I knew Jeremie (Frimpong) from playing against him in academy football (when he was at Manchester City). He’s much faster and stronger than I thought — very good. Simon Rolfes (sporting director), who tried everything possible to get me across the finish line, was another good board member. That was a major factor.” In addition, he received some useful intel from a friend who knew all about life at Leverkusen.
“I spoke a lot to Kai Havertz and he said it’s a very good club, the people are great, the league is very good.”
The decision to join Bayer 04 on loan was made not long after he had found himself once again omitted from Thomas Tuchel’s matchday squad for the first game of the Premier League season, against Everton. The German coach had not used him in the past season. He had also been out of action with injury since March. He didn’t feel as if he could spend another six months on the fringes.
“My mindset was, ‘I have to get out of there’,” he says. “Not in a rude way, as in I don’t like the club or I don’t want to be at the club, I don’t like the club. It’s not like that. However, I had to start playing football again. Start afresh. Do my best wherever I am. Then, go back to Chelsea at the end of the loan.”
Really happy to be here and can’t wait to get started, let’s go!!❤️🔥 @bayer04_en pic.twitter.com/4QcFRDTCq7
— Callum Hudson-Odoi (@Calteck10) August 30, 2022
You have the chance to make it. World Cup squad was also on his mind, he says, although he doesn’t specify with which team. Ghana are reportedly interested to have him in Qatar if he’s able to switch allegiance from EnglandIt will take some time. There’s been apparently no contact from Gareth Southgate or anyone at the FA in recent months.
Has he ever asked himself why he hasn’t been able to make sustained progress at Stamford Bridge after making serious waves as an Under-17 World Cup winner with England and playing his first senior games for Chelsea aged 18? Perhaps things would have turned out differently if he went to Bayern Munich in January 2019, when the German champions were in his area. “There’s no point dwelling on the past,” he says in relation to the failed Bayern move, but rupturing his Achilles tendon in April 2019, an injury that kept him out for half a year, was certainly “a major factor to everything” — more precisely, the largely barren spell that followed.
“Having an injury like that is very difficult to overcome and to be yourself again. Three to four months later, I felt that it would be another year before I felt the same. It was quite shocking. Mentally, it was difficult because you don’t know what’s going to happen next. You don’t know if you’re good or bad… What helped me were the people behind me — they always encouraged me and gave me a warm feeling of support.”
Alonso and Hudson-Odoi chat during a Bundesliga match with Schalke. Photo by Christof Koepsel/Getty Images
Chelsea’s environment was naturally more difficult. Tuchel removed Hudson-Odoi after just 31 minutes. He wasn’t always helped by the manager’s tactical set-up either.
“You’re not a natural-born wing-back, are you?”
“Definitely not,” he says, laughing. “At times, it was okay. But sometimes in my head, I’m thinking, ‘What am I doing, why am I in this position? I’m more defending than attacking’. No matter where I was playing, I was always trying to do my best and help the team — it’s not always about myself. I did not argue; I just went with the flow. But in order to get the best out of yourself, you have to play where you can feel most comfortable and do what you can do best.” That’s not meant as a criticism of Tuchel, he insists. “I would never bad mouth or say anything bad about him. He was always a great guy and a good man on and off the pitch. It was just… with so many great players in the team, you have to obviously fight for your position and work your hardest. It was definitely difficult at times with him but you have to get on with it and do what you can.”
Bayer haven’t had the best start to the season either, finding themselves at the wrong end of the table after a poor run that saw Gerardo Seoane getting replaced by Xabi Alonso. They’re out of the DFB-Pokal, and in the Champions League progress to the knockout stages hangs in the balance after three defeats in four games.
Hudson-Odoi admits that playing for a struggling side is a new experience after his Chelsea years but the chance to feature regularly again — he’s made eight starts in seven weeks — has made more than up for the slightly fraught atmosphere at BayArena.
“The results haven’t been the greatest but I think experience-wise, it’s been very good,” he says. “I’m enjoying my football, smiling every day. The boys have been great in helping me settle down quickly. I feel at home here.”
That is not to say that everything’s easy-going. Since Alonso’s arrival, training has been more intense. In training, the 40-year-old former World Cup And European Championship winner will stop sessions if passes are played sloppily, correct players’ body shape and often join in with the exercises, playing the first, guaranteed clean pass to start off the move. “He’s really on to you, in your face, to make sure you understand what he wants you to do,” Hudson-Odoi says. “He’s definitely more hands on than the other coaches I’ve had. He’s still kicking balls and has that mentality of wanting to win games. It’s nice. When he talks, everyone listens because he knows what he’s talking about.”
Alonso has been challenging Hudson-Odoi to improve on his good performances thus far by talking to him a lot. “He’s been telling me, ‘You’re playing really well, you’re working well, you’re getting the ball and helping to create chances. But you have to have that killer instinct of getting in the box and scoring goals’. That’s one of the things I obviously need to add to my game.”
Hudson-Odoi celebrates scoring for Chelsea against Juventus in the Champions League last year (Photo: Chris Lee – Chelsea FC/Chelsea FC via Getty Images)
Todd Boehly, Chelsea’s co-owner, reached out to Hudson-Odoi before he left for Germany. He offered a similar message but in less tactical terms. “He said, ‘Make sure to do your thing over there — be confident, be free, be the player that you want to be,” the forward reveals, adding thoughtfully that this spell abroad is essentially about finding himself once more.
“I feel like I’m getting back to being myself again — getting back to that stage before the injury when I was more direct and would dribble and stuff like that. The last couple of seasons I’ve been a bit more backward, passing more; I’ve been more safe. I feel I’m doing much better now. I feel sharper and more focused on the ball. All that’s missing are the goals and the assists now. Then all will be good.”
London to Leverkusen doesn’t sound like the most obvious journey of self-rediscovery.
Callum Hudson Odoi might find the solution.
(Top photo: Getty Images/Eamonn Dlton)
