Chelsea reject a massive bid from Bayern Munich for Callum Hudson-Odoi (Updated)

When will it end? As the Callum Hudson-Odoi transfer saga stretches into its 22nd month, Bayern Munich and Chelsea continue to be at an impasse over the player’s future. The Bavarians want a fourth winger to complement the squad, while the Blues are determined to get their money’s worth after blunders involving players like Romelu Lukaku and Mohamed Salah.

The latest reporting, coming from multiple (reliable) sources such as Jacob Steinberg of The Guardian and Nizaar Kinsella of Goal.com, claim that Chelsea have just rejected a loan+option to buy bid from Bayern Munich. The option is quoted at a whopping £70m, which if triggered would have made Hudson-Odoi the second-most expensive Bayern transfer ever. The reports also confirm that Chelsea would accept a deal if the Bavarians would just include an obligation to buy after the loan instead of a mere option.

What does this mean? Well, it’s clear that a little bit of media negotiation is going on. As we saw with Manchester City the year before, English clubs like to supply their journalists with their version of events to steer the narrative in an advantageous direction. Bayern, meanwhile, is staying out of the media war this time, as German journalists outside of Max Bielefeld of Sky Sports seem to be completely out of the loop.

Clearly, both sides are negotiating. Frank Lampard himself couldn’t confirm the youngster’s future in his press conference after Crystal Palace, showing that anything could happen between now and Monday. If Chelsea insist on an obligation to buy, Bayern might acquiesce, provided that the obligation is significantly lower than the £70m offer quoted above.

How much lower? Hard to say. Chelsea rejected as much as 50m euros back in 2019, and that was when Hudson-Odoi had only a year left on his contract. The Blues have a strong financial position and zero need to sell, so they will squeeze Bayern for everything they’ve got. Chelsea boss Marina Granovskaia is an experienced hand at fleecing European giants on transfers — just look at what Real Madrid ended up paying for Eden Hazard (upwards of 160m euros, if reports are to be believed).

Safe to say, this is an uncomfortable situation to be in for the Bavarians. If Bayern and Brazzo think that Hudson-Odoi is the one, they might have no choice but to pony up the cash. However, Callum Hudson-Odoi is very much still an unproven quantity, and a significant outlay during times like these could come back to bite us in the future. Still, the clock is ticking, and the winger position is sorely lacking at the club. Let’s see how things play out.

Update

According to Sky Sports journalist Max Bielefeld, Chelsea are denying reports that they rejected a bid. How will this go? We still have no idea.

You can assume they’re still negotiating though. The window closes in less than 48 hours. The clock’s ticking, Brazzo.