Chelsea Star Set to Dump England for Top African Country After Euro 2020 Omission

Chelsea Star Set to Dump England for Top African Country After Euro 2020 Omission

  • Ghana could benefit from the racial abuse recently aimed at Bukayo Saka and others with Callum Hudson-Odoi set to switch his allegiance to the country
  • The 20-year-old has made three senior team appearances since he was handed his maiden call-up in 2019
  • The Blues player was in the squad that won the FIFA U17 World Cup for England four years ago before making it to the national team two years later

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Chelsea winger Callum Hudson-Odoi might be planning to exploit FIFA's new rule to dump England and commit his international future to Ghana.

The 20-year-old was omitted from the Three Lions squad that lost the Euro 2020 title to Italy on the final day of the competition at Wembley Stadium.

Hudson-Odoi recently paid a courtesy visit to the West African country to probably trace his roots and also met with the president, Nana Akufo-Addo at the Jubilee House as reported by Sport Bible.

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Callum Hudson-Odoi Set To Switch International Allegiance Under New FIFA Rules
Callum Hudson-Odoi posing with the Champions League trophy at victory over Manchester City in May. Photo by Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC
Source: Getty Images

Part of his discussion with the number one citizen of the country was about improving football infrastructure and opportunities for children and young people in the country.

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The publication is now reporting that the President specifically told his Minister of Youth and Sports, Mustapha Ussif, to persuade the 20-year-old to play for the Black Stars going forward.

This however seems to be going according to plans for then as Ghana Sports Online claims the Blues star has decided to represent his fatherland at the international level.

The Ghanian publication added that the player's decision was informed by the recent racial attacks Bikayo Saka, Jadon Sacho and Marcus Rashford were subjected to after the final against Italy after losing their spot-kicks.

Hudson-Odoi is now ready to join the likes of Thomas Partey, Jeffrey Schlupp among others in the Ghanian national team despite growing through the ranks in England and winning the FIFA U17 World Cup for them in 2017.

He started his career plating for the Three Lions U16 and finally earned his national team promotion under Gareth Southgate during their Euro 2020 qualifiers in 2019 at the age of 18 years and 135 days.

He became the youngest-ever player to play a competitive game for England after coming in as a substitute in the 5-0 win over Czech Republic at Wembley in March 2019.

Hudson-Odoi has been capped three times for England's senior side and was selected for the Under 21's at the European Under 21's Championship earlier this year.

As per FIFA, Rules state:

"Players can now switch national teams provided they are eligible to represent them as long as they have played no more than three matches (including friendlies), none of the matches were in the final tournament of the FIFA World Cup or confederation competition, and they all happened before the player turned 21."

Hudson-Odoi, 2 others could be sold by Chelsea

Legit.ng earlier reported that Chelsea appear not to be giving up in their pursuit for Erling Haaland after the club's owner Roman Abramovich reportedly released funds to land the Borussia Dortmund hotshot.

Haaland has courted interest from several European clubs in recent months, with the Norwegian being linked to Real Madrid, Man City, Man United, and Barcelona.

Sources reveal that Chelsea are also among the clubs interested in the striker, with the Blues believed to be ready to do everything within their reach to land him.

Source: Legit.ng

Authors:
Oluwatomiwa Babalola avatar

Oluwatomiwa Babalola Oluwatomiwa Babalola is a former sports editor at Legit.ng. He has over eight years of field and office experience in the media industry. He graduated from the Nigerian Institute of Journalism in 2014 with HND in Mass Communication.