Former Chelsea star slams Thomas Tuchel for giving Callum Hudson-Odoi the ‘Tammy Abraham treatment’
Former Chelsea winger Paul Canoville has criticised Thomas Tuchel for his treatment of Callum Hudson-Odoi, who was omitted from the matchday squad for the club’s opening Premier League win over Everton.
Hudson-Odoi, 21, was nowhere to be seen as the Chelsea team news filtered through an hour before kick-off of their 1-0 win over Everton on Saturday evening, raising serious questions about the academy graduate’s future at Stamford Bridge.
The versatile winger was once heralded as the hottest prospect to emerge from Cobham during his teenage years, with the Londoner subsequently signing a bumper five-year deal with the club in 2019 to stave off serious interest from Bayern Munich at the time.
Hudson-Odoi featured extensively under former manager Frank Lampard, but has since found playing time hard to come by under Tuchel, who regularly plays him out of position in his preferred wing-back system, which doesn’t cater for traditional wingers.
There are now suggestions that Hudson-Odoi could leave west London this summer, and ex-Blue Canoville has warned the club that they could have another ‘Tammy Abraham situation’ on their hands, that could come back to haunt them if they aren’t careful.
Abraham was sold last summer as the club pursued the £100m purchase of Romelu Lukaku, and he went on to thrive at Roma in 2021/22 as Jose Mourinho’s men won the inaugural Europa Conference League, scoring 27 goals in all competitions and earning a recall to the England set-up.
Canoville tweeted: “Nah. I don’t like seeing that! Callum being treated like Tammy.
Nah. I don’t like seeing that! Callum being treated like Tammy. Kid bust a gut working through pre season to be fit again from injury. Freezing him out ain’t a good look. Nope! Not happy TT! #Chelsea
— Paul Canoville (@Kingcanners) August 8, 2022
“Kid bust a gut working through pre season to be fit again from injury. Freezing him out ain’t a good look. Nope! Not happy TT [Thomas Tuchel]!”
Reports suggest Chelsea have already been approached by several clubs for Hudson-Odoi’s signature, with Southampton and Leicester City said to be keen on keeping the three-capped England international in the Premier League, while Borussia Dortmund are thought to have entered the race as well.
