Callum Hudson-Odoi made his first Premier League start of the season against Southampton on Sunday (Picture: Getty)

Former Chelsea goalkeeper Rob Green has questioned Maurizio Sarri’s use of Callum Hudson-Odoi last season by saying the teenager was consistently one of the club’s best players in training.

Hudson-Odoi made his first-team breakthrough with Chelsea under the Italian, featuring 24 times in total during the 2018-19 campaign, however, he started only four Premier League games.

The 18-year-old made his dissatisfaction at a lack of minutes apparent and submitted a transfer request in January amid strong interest in his services from Bayern Munich.

Hudson-Odoi assisted Tammy Abraham for Chelsea’s first goal of the game at St Mary’s (Picture: Reuters)

According to Green, Chelsea’s players couldn’t understand why Hudson-Odoi wasn’t starting more frequently and were so impressed with him that they often applauded his skills in training.




‘We were in the dressing room last season and the players were saying “how is he not playing?”,’ Green told BBC Radio 5 Live.

‘He was going out in training and tearing some of the best defenders in the world apart. He was consistently the best in training.

‘It was to the point where some of the best players in the world were standing there applauding what he was doing.’

Hudson-Odoi eventually established himself in the Chelsea team towards the end of Sarri’s spell in charge before suffering a season-ending Achilles injury against Burnley in April.

The England international has only just recovered from that setback and was handed a first Premier League start by Frank Lampard against Southampton in Sunday’s 4-1 victory.

Hudson-Odoi, who recently signed a five-year contract at Chelsea, delivered a promising performance at St Mary’s and assisted Tammy Abraham for the game’s first goal.

Hudson-Odoi struggled for game time under Frank Lampard’s predecessor Maurizio Sarri (Picture: Getty)

Green believes the sky is the limit for Hudson-Odoi, saying: ‘He has got such a brilliant mind and he is so confident. When he goes out there he will try things and he will try it on the biggest stage.

‘He will do something and you will ask him: ‘When have you done that? Why did you do that?’ ‘He would say “because I’ve never done it before and I thought I’d try it”.

‘You knew from the way he spoke and the way he is around the lads, the way he holds himself and obviously his ability, he is going to be at Chelsea for as long as he wants to be and then, maybe, on to greater things.’