[ad_pod ]

In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, John Hartson has stated that big things will be expected of Callum Hudson-Odoi as he returns to the Chelsea fold.

The 18-year-old shone brightly at times for the Blues last season, but he suffered a damaging Achilles injury in April and has not played since then.

Now, though, he appears to have recovered and, following a run-out for the club’s U23 squad last week, Frank Lampard gave him a 90 minute run out against Grimsby Town in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday.

And former Arsenal striker Hartson believes that there will be plenty of expectation on his shoulders considering how hard the Blues fought to keep him. 

“He got a big money move turned down from Bayern Munich. They made a massive, massive play for him. But Chelsea stood firm, dug their heels in and now he's signed a new contract,” he said.

“So you look at the younger players they might not be getting their chances if Frank Lampard had money to spend, so who knows, Frank might have gone on to spend £60-70m on a striker and Abraham would have been shipped out on loan again.

“When Hudson-Odoi does come back he's definitely going to have more opportunities. They really like him there, they've given him a new 5-year contract and big things will be expected of him as well.”

Of course, his return to the first team comes at the perfect time.

As we have seen already this season with the impressive displays of the likes of Mason Mount, Tammy Abraham and Fikayo Tomori, talented youngsters will finally get their chance under Lampard at Stamford Bridge after years in the wilderness. Although this may be in part down to the transfer ban they find themselves under, it doesn’t change the fact of the situation.

Hudson-Odoi, though, is already a star in the eyes of the Chelsea supporters. He impressed last season, scoring six goals and providing seven assists, and even earned his first two England caps.

Considering the amount of money the south west London outfit’s hierarchy have turned down over the past year from Bayern, as well as the reported £120,000-a-week salary he is set to earn with his new five-year contract, he will be expected to hit the ground running.