Chelsea confirm extent of Callum Hudson-Odoi’s injury
Chelsea have confirmed Callum Hudson-Odoi is set to undergo surgery on a ruptured Achilles on Tuesday evening.
The teenager limped off in the first half of Chelsea’s 2-2 draw against Burnley after picking up an injury when trying to control a high ball.
How long could Hudson-Odoi be out for? Five key things to know…
- Callum Hudson-Odoi had to be taken off in the first half of Chelsea’s 2-2 draw with Burnley on Monday night.
- The teenager suffered an inocuous injury after controlling the ball, which was later confirmed to be a ruptured Achilles.
- Chelsea have now confirmed the youngster is set to undergo surgery, keeping him out of action for the forseeable future.
- Last season, Arsenal defender Laurent Koscielny suffered a ruptured Achilles and missed six months of action.
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Given the inocuous nature of the injury, fears were high over the extent of Hudson-Odoi’s injury – with the 18-year-old later confirming on Twitter that he had in fact ruptured his achilles, ruling him out for the season – though nothing official had come from the club.
Really gutted to end my season with an Ruptured Achilles, gotta work hard and try and come back stronger for next season!!!😢🙏🏾❤️ pic.twitter.com/PXC53WszdH
— Callum Hudson-Odoi (@Calteck10) April 22, 2019
In their post-match press conference, assistant manager Gianfranco Zola told reporters: “It doesn’t look very good unfortunately. It’s a problem with his Achilles tendon. Tomorrow we’ll know exactly what the problem is.”
And now the club have confirmed Hudson-Odoi’s ruptured Achilles, while also revealing he is set to undergo surgery on Tuesday evening after seeing a specialist.
A statement on the club’s website read: “Callum is seeing a specialist this afternoon and is expected to undergo surgery on his ruptured Achilles tendon this evening.
“The 18-year-old winger limped off during the first half of last night’s 2-2 draw against Burnley, his 28th Chelsea appearance of the season. He has netted five goals since making his debut for the Blues in the Community Shield against Manchester City at the beginning of the season.
“Hudson-Odoi made his England debut during last month’s international break, coming off as a sub against Czech Republic before starting the 5-0 win in Montenegro.”
Hudson-Odoi’s future at Chelsea is currently in doubt, with the teenager being subject to interest from Bayern Munich in January and just over a year remaining on his current deal.
But the club may actually gain some minor advantage from Hudson-Odoi’s injury, with the teenager unlikely to move anywhere as he goes through rehabilitation.
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Sarri expects Hudson-Odoi to stay
Even before Hudson-Odoi’s season was cut short due to injury, Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri expressed his beliefs that the youngster would be staying at the club next year.
“I’m not able to say he’s going to sign a contract, but I think he’ll stay here with us in every case,” Sarri said.
“In the last season, Callum was only 17 and he played three or four matches. In this season, he is really very young – only 18 – but, at the moment, he has played for 19 or 20 matches. I think the evolution is the right evolution.
“Probably, he will play 30-35 matches in the next season and so I think that, with Callum, we are on the right path.
“He can become, I think, one of the most important players in Europe.
“Of course he is very young. But I think that he is really very strong. The character is really very strong.”
