Fitness boost for Callum Hudson-Odoi as Bayern lowers potential bidding price

After rupturing his Achilles tendon towards the end of last season, Chelsea’s Callum Hudson-Odoi has been making a remarkably quick comeback, aiming to be fully fit at some point near the start of the 2019/2020 campaign. Although he underwent surgery to repair the ruptured tendon only two months ago, the midfielder has already resumed training drills — much earlier than he had anticipated.

The 18-year-old took to Twitter to showcase the speedy progress he’s been making, looking forward to the upcoming season:

Bayern Munich has been interested in signing Hudson-Odoi from Chelsea for the past nine months to fill one of the voids left by Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben. Their pursuit of the youngster has taken a significant amount of twists and turns.

Now Chelsea is tempting Hudson-Odoi to sign a contract extension worth £100k a week, despite the fact that they still don’t have a new manager to replace Maurizio Sarri. Frank Lampard is the odds-on favorite to take over, but he’s still technically employed by Championship side Derby County, and no agreements for the Chelsea job have been made yet.

Bayern meanwhile has never abandoned its interest in Hudson-Odoi altogether. Bild+ (paywall) is now reporting that Bayern might lower its bidding price to about €20 million, since Hudson-Odoi still has not signed a new contract with Chelsea. Chelsea rejected Bayern’s €35m bid for the player in the winter transfer window. Bayern is using the fact that his contract expires next summer to potentially get a better price. If he fails to sign a new contract, he could potentially leave on a free transfer.

At this point, Hudson-Odoi’s decision making seems to be really contingent upon whether Lampard or someone else becomes the new manager. Having an ex-Chelsea and ex-England legend step in as the new manager might bolster Hudson-Odoi’s fortunes. Lampard would likely be given a considerable honeymoon period given his status with the club, translating into more playing time for a young player like Hudson-Odoi. Someone else without a Chelsea background might not be given much slack and could be given the axe within his first year if results start to go poorly. With Lampard, it’s a very attractive package for Hudson-Odoi. However, if Lampard falls through, and an unfavorable situation arises in the manager’s position for Hudson-Odoi, Bayern could capitalize on the opportunity.