Bayern Munich will now be desperate to land Hudson-Odoi as part of rebuild and Chelsea should beware as they have £300m transfer kitty
Bundesliga giants set for major overhaul of squad after Champions League thrashing boosted by BMW investment and Chelsea star is top of their list
BAYERN MUNICH’S Champions League nightmare spells bad news for Chelsea – with the club now ready to strengthen their efforts to sign Callum Hudson-Odoi.
The German giants saw their European Cup hopes blown away as they suffered a miserable 3-1 home defeat to Liverpool on Wednesday night.
But the manner of their beating by Jurgen Klopp’s side has led to huge questions being asked about the futures of senior stars at the Allianz Arena, and increased the urgency for them bring in new players this summer.
And boosted by the news BMW are taking a stake in the club which is expected to see £300m invested in Bayern, the money is there to spend.
Top of the list of targets is Chelsea prospect Hudson-Odoi, who was the subject of repeated bids from the Bundesliga club in January.
Bayern went as high as £40million for the 18-year-old winger but the Blues brushed away the bids and insisted he remained at Stamford Bridge for the rest of the season.
At the time he was seen as a play for the future by Bayern bosses, but the need to bring in fresh young talent to the squad in Munich was never more evident than against Liverpool.
Veteran wide man Arjen Robben has already announced he will be leaving the club at the end of the season – and Franck Ribery looked well past his best at the highest level on Wednesday night.
Bayern’s sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic has already gone on record to say Hudson-Odoi plays like a player beyond his years.
And they had already made it clear they wanted to go back in for the England under-17 World Cup winner over the close season.
Now it is almost inevitable that they get to work on trying to put together a deal that will tempt Chelsea into selling one of their brightest young assets.
And the problem for the London club is nothing that has happened since his desired move to Germany fell through will strengthen their hopes of keeping hold of him.
Hudson-Odoi is still refusing to sign a new deal on the table, with his existing deal running out at the end of next season.
Chelsea want him to commit his long-term future to West London, but the player has been reluctant to do so fearing his development is being held up by a lack of first team opportunities.
And in the weeks since being told to stay, Hudson-Odoi has only started one match and been used as a late sub in five others.