The Sancho effect
Borussia Dortmund star and England international Jadon Sancho has encouraged Callum Hudson-Odoi to leave Chelsea for Bayern Munich.
Sancho has set an example to other young English players who might be struggling for game time in the Premier League by moving to the Bundesliga, where he has proven himself and earned a place in the national team squad.
Hudson-Odoi is the subject of much hype, but the Chelsea winger has not been granted many opportunities at Stamford Bridge to play himself into the first team.
Bayern Munich are keen to take the 18-year-old off Chelsea’s hands as they look to replace Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben, and Sancho has told Hudson-Odoi that Germany would a great place for him to develop.
Speaking to the Daily Mail about his compatriot, Sancho said: “I’m not sure [what he will do].
“Everyone has different pathways. Me and Callum are close friends. I know what he’s all about.
“He’s the next one I would say. He’s very good and talented, fast, good dribbling skills. And I’ve told him the Bundesliga is a nice league. I just told him to do whatever is best for him.”
“I’ve told them [his former England youth team-mates] that this is a league that is keen to express the youth,” he added.
“Every young player in England wants to do well and just wants to help their families, be someone that their family can be remembered for.
“The World Cup showed everyone in England that young players are coming through and working hard to try to get a chance. My chance was to come out to Germany.
“[But] coming to Germany is not easy. People might think it’s easy because I’m doing so well, but it’s not at all. You have to have a strong mentality and just focus and sacrifice a lot of things like family and that’s not an easy thing to do.”
Hudson-Odoi has reportedly told Chelsea he is keen to leave the club in this January transfer window after Bayern submitted a bid in the region of £40m, and looking at how a similar move propelled Sancho to stardom, who can blame him?
