Jacob Steinberg suggested that Thomas Tuchel is an admirer of Callum Hudson-Odoi and identifies him as key to Chelsea’s forward line.
The Guardian football reporter said that the new Chelsea coach was already a ‘fan’ of Hudson-Odoi despite only taking charge of the Blues late on Tuesday.
His appointment was officially confirmed just over a day after the news broke about Frank Lampard’s dismissal.
Tuchel took to the training ground almost instantaneously after arriving from France, eager to utilise every minute he has with the squad before his debut game in the dugout later today.
He will likely reshuffle the pack assembled by his predecessor, giving a new lease of life to those who looked dead and buried.
Hudson-Odoi could be taken to another level by the freshly installed manager who is enthaustic about his talents.
The 20-year-old has only started nine games this season and will hope Tuchel can transform him like he did with Christian Pulisic and Ousmane Dembele at Borussia Dortmund.
Pulisic and Hudson-Odoi make up the forward line that have not been completely free scoring as of late. Chelsea have only scored more than one goal once in their last eight Premier league fixtures.
This is an area that Tuchel ‘sees vast potential in’ but needs improvement. Trying to get Timo Werner back to his free scoring best should be high priority.
Steinberg also said that the 47-year-old believed ‘he can work with Mateo Kovacic, Jorginho and N’Golo Kante’. Lampard was unable to find a consistent balance in midfield as he constantly rotated and revised his starting line-up.
Jorginho was earmarked by Tuchel as a potential transfer whilst at PSG (Daily Mail) and will likely reinstate the experienced Italian.
Kante is a different kettle of fish. The Telegraph stated that the World Cup winner was becoming ‘unsettled’ at Chelsea and that Tuchel needs to persuade him that the ship can stay afloat under his stewardship.
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I think this could be a major moment in Hudson-Odoi’s young career. If Tuchel can finally unwrap the gift that has been promised for the past few years than Chelsea and the player will really benefit.
In terms of the midfield, I don’t like the sound of a Kovacic/ Jorginho/ Kante trio if that were to be the Tuchel’s selection.
Mason Mount has to be involved and it would be a shame for Kai Havertz to miss out after all this hype surrounding his fellow German.
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