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.
A round-up of the Werkself training camp in the Weimarer Land, all in one place: in our daily blog you’ll find all the insights and updates from the day. Day four (Wednesday 5 August) is all about training. The day begins with a gruelling open training session – new signing Miguel Gutiérrez also takes part. A second session follows in the afternoon, this time behind closed doors.
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen have signed Spanish left-back Miguel Gutiérrez from Napoli. The 25-year-old has signed a contract with the club to 30 June 2031. Gutiérrez came through the youth ranks at Real Madrid; he moved to Italy a year ago from Girona, and he played a key role for Napoli with 36 appearances. The big Italian club finished last season as runners-up in Serie A.
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New signing Miguel Gutiérrez arrives in Leverkusen having won the Champions League, the Spanish league title and an Olympic gold medal. However, the 25-year-old Spaniard, signed from Napoli, is looking to the future – he wants to write the next chapter of success with the Werkself. Bayer04.de takes a closer look at the skilful, attack-minded left-back, who will wear the number 3 jersey.
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The Werkself's training camp in Weimarer Land all in one place: in our daily blog you'll find all the insights and updates from the day. Day three (Tuesday 4 August) begins with a thorough open session on the pitch. After lunch, some players have media engagements at the team hotel, and then the team come together for a barbecue in the evening.
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