From London to Leverkusen: Callum Hudson-Odoi leaves his birthplace for the first time in his career as a football player to join Bayer 04. He joined Chelsea at the age of six and his Ghanaian father Bismark Odoi was also a professional footballer in Ghana. Callum progressed through all the youth teams at the Blues over the following eleven years. He made his debut for the U18s at the age of 15, the U23s at 16, and he finally stepped up to the senior squad in 2017.
The fast and technically gifted Hudson-Odoi made his Premier League debut on 31 January 2018 under the then Chelsea head coach Antonio Conte in a 3-0 defeat at home to Bournemouth. He made one more league appearance in his first season.
The right footer went on to play more frequently in England's top flight in the following years. He played nine games in the UEFA Europa League in 2018/19 and joined his teammates in celebrating winning the title after a 4-1 victory against Arsenal in the final. Hudson-Odoi played a significant role in Chelsea's European triumph with four goals and two assists.
The Londoner celebrated the biggest success of his short career to date in the following year by winning the UEFA Champions League. The winger played an important role in the 2020/21 Champions League campaign with two goals in seven games and, after beating Manchester City 1-0 in the final, he lifted the trophy together with Werkself home-grown player, scorer of the winner in the final, and teammate Kai Havertz. Callum also won the FIFA Club World Cup with the Blues.
Hudson-Odoi has learned one thing in particular in his time at Chelsea as he explained in an interview with fifa.com: "The mentality was for us to score goals or always look to finish. Team spirit was and is really important for that. You never play alone and success is only possible as a team."
At the age of 21, Hudson-Odoi can already look back at 72 appearances in the Premier League, 17 in the Champions League as well as nine in the Europa League.
After Jens Nowotny was officially named a Bayer 04 honorary captain last weekend, the long-standing Werkself player is part of the Leverkusen delegation on the trophy tour to New York City next week from 11 to 14 September. In an interview with bayer04.de, the 50-year-old talked about his expectations ahead of the trip to the metropolis on the East Coast of the USA.
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The German Football League (DFL) has confirmed the dates and kick-off times for matchdays 6 to 12 of the 2024/25 Bundesliga season. Full details of the Bayer 04 fixtures.
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Markus Rehm, a long jumper at TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen, won the gold medal for the fourth time in succession at the Paralympics on Wednesday.
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The fixture details for the second round of the DFB Pokal 2024/25 have been confirmed. The home tie for Bayer 04 against second division SV 07 Elversberg is on Tuesday, 29 October with the kick off at 18.00 CET (live on Sky). That was announced by the German Football Association (DFB) on Thursday.
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