Chelsea FC News: Hudson-Odoi Yet To Fully Recover From Achilles Injury

Callum Hudson-Odoi may seem fine, but the 20-year-old is far from his normal self. The English winger admits that since incurring an Achilles tendon injury in April 2019, he has yet to return to peak condition.

So far, Hudson-Odoi has already played in 42 matches across all competitions since returning to active duty in January. However, it has not been an easy journey for the Englishman, who went through nagging injuries along the way. That included a hamstring injury that sidelined him for two months earlier this year.

“I still feel to myself that I’m still improving, obviously still trying to get more strength in the calf, which I lost a lot of muscle from, but I feel like I’m getting back to my best,” Hudson-Odoi said to BT Sport.

Hudson-Odoi is trying to remain patient, aware that he will at some point recall his old form. And it appears he is on the right track.

The 20-year-old scored one of the goals for England U21s in the Euro 2021 qualifiers against Andora Friday, Goal reported. Curiously, he made his senior England debut before featuring for the Young Lions in March 2019. He was not been featured on the side of Gareth Southgate for nearly a year.

Regardless, this is something that Hudson-Odoi is not losing sleep on. Besides, moving between the youth and the senior England squads should help prove his value moving forward.

“Of course you want to be in the senior team, you want to be competing up there every time. [But] No matter where I’m playing, I want to give my best no matter what it is,” Hudson-Odoi said.

"If it’s going up and down [between the two squads], I want to make sure that I stay up there, so I’m going to keep working hard, doing my best, and as I said, just keep my mentality strong and just keep working hard,” he added.

As for his place in Chelsea, there is work to be done outside his plans to get back to full health. In a previous report, Blues manager Frank Lampard commented that Hudson-Odoi needs to work off the ball.

"I think Callum's natural ability is on the ball, taking people on the outside and that's what he can do, and those things will come out as Callum keeps developing. As he builds confidence, he needs to know that I am behind him in that sense because he can bring a lot. Then, we will see a lot more from Callum," Lampard said.