Father of Chelsea full-back Reece James, Nigel James, has shared his perspective on the challenges faced by UK-born Ghanaian winger Callum Hudson-Odoi, suggesting that “bad moments” have impeded his progress.
Odoi is widely regarded as one of the most talented players to emerge from the Chelsea Academy, a sentiment that Nigel wholeheartedly agrees with.
“Who Callum? 100 percent, 100 percent, 100 percent,” he said on The Beautiful Game Podcast when quizzed about the most talented player to emerge from the Chelsea academy.
However, Odoi has faced criticism from some Chelsea fans who have begun to doubt his potential to become a top player for the club.
Nigel explained that Odoi’s slow progress in his career can be attributed to a series of difficult injuries, which have had a significant impact on his form.
These setbacks have posed obstacles for the young forward and hampered his development.
“I’d say coming through the academy, if Callum played in the team, you basically say we’ve won the game. Yeah, we’ve won the game. He takes players inside-out, he had the confidence from young doing that and is a great kid. We can sit and many people have their opinions of why, but that’s the game for you. You just don’t know and it’s moments in this game.
“At the academy level, he had a lot of moments of being special and he is still a special player now. But he has had moments when things don’t work for him so often, but he is still a top player. You pick up a couple of injuries and you lose form and that’s what everyone is going to remember,” he said.
He established that Odoi would need a good run of games to get back to his best, adding that the former England U-21 star will remain a top player until he decides not to play football again.
“We are all human beings and there’s a confidence inside you that you may look like you are confident, but inside you, you could be not so confident.
And you just need a run of games and for the club to give you those run of games for you to go again. He is still a top player and he will always be a top player until he stops playing football.”
Callum Hudson-Odoi, who broke into the Chelsea first team in 2018, enjoyed a marvellous start to his professional career until he ruptured his Achilles in April 2019. He went on to miss the remainder of the 2018/2019 season.
He spent the 2022/2023 season on loan at Bayer Leverkusen where he failed to establish himself to secure permanent transfer.
According to The Atlethic, Odoi is pushing for a permanent exit from Chelsea after returning from his loan spell.