Chelsea star suffers injury blow ahead of summer decision over future

Callum Hudson-Odoi has suffered an injury blow which will keep out of the Bayer Leverkusen side until next month.

The 22-year-old was not included in Leverkusen’s matchday squad to face Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga on Sunday afternoon.

Hudson-Odoi, who joined on loan in the summer for the season, has made 17 appearances in all competitions this season, but has only registered two goal contributions – one goal and one assist.

His future at Chelsea remains unclear with a decision set to be made this summer over where his long-term future lies.

Now as reported by Simon Johnson of The Athletic, Hudson-Odoi is ‘likely’ to miss around two weeks of the season due to a hamstring strain.

Bayer Leverkusen’s Callum Hudson-Odoi has suffered a hamstring strain that is likely to rule him out for around two weeks after coming off at half-time against Bochum in midweek.

Hudson-Odoi will be hoping to end the season on a high before he returns to Chelsea in the summer.

Several clubs have already shown interest in the winger, and following the arrivals of Mykhailo Mudryk and Noni Madueke as well as having just a year left on his current deal at the end of the season, Hudson-Odoi is likely to be available for a cut-price fee if it’s decided that he leaves Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea’s new owners have already made seven signings in January, continuing their summer spree which has seen the Todd Boehly–Clearlake Capital ownership spend in excess of £460 million on new signings.

They had the option to recall Hudson-Odoi back to the capital in January, though Leverkusen chief Simon Rolfes confirmed: “We had assumed that Callum would stay, but now we also have the certainty that he will stay with us.

“That makes us happy, because he is a very important player for us.”

Chelsea have had injury problems of their own all season which former boss Thomas Tuchel and now Graham Potter has had to contend with.

They are set to welcome back Reece James and Ben Chilwell back to the side against Fulham next Friday, with Raheem Sterling hoped to make his comeback from a hamstring injury in a couple of weeks after he took his first steps to a return earlier this week when taking to the grass at Cobham for individual sessions.