CALLUM HUDSON-ODOI’S transfer to Bayern Munich moved a bit closer, with the German champions reportedly making a third offer of £30m plus add-ons a couple of days ago. The final sum should come close enough to the €40m Chelsea quoted the Bavarians last week.
It’s shaping up to be an extraordinary deal for an 18-year-old who’s been barely on the fringes of Maurizio Sarri’s squad, but it can be explained by a number of factors. First and foremost, both Hudson-Odoi and Chelsea have benefitted from the Jadon Sancho effect.
Chelsea sign Christian Pulisic from Borussia Dortmund for £58m.
Taxi for Callum Hudson-Odoi… pic.twitter.com/A983WBEDgo
— Unibet (@unibet) January 2, 2019
Bayern, who were turned down by Sancho before his move to Dortmund in the summer of 2017, are determined not to lose out on a young, exciting English prospect for a second time. Having seen Sancho prosper in the space of 12 months and turn into one of European football’s most exciting wide player, with a market value to boot, they went in hard and early, knowing that their involvement would inevitably raise both Callum-Hudson’s wage demands and Chelsea’s asking price beyond the means of their Black and Yellow rivals. The Blues would have preferred to extend the youth International’s contract on improved wages beyond 2019 but can console themselves with extracting maximum value for a player who had not yet made a significant impact at senior level. Hudson-Odoi’s fee – set to surpass the £31m including add-ons Manchester United paid for the Luke Shaw in 2014 – will make him the most expensive English teenager to date. Without Sancho’s stellar pioneering work, the West-London club would likely have quoted interested parties a much lower figure.
The big price tag makes this a rather risky and untypical move for Bayern. In the past, they have preferred to pick up more established players who are further along in their careers. But the explosion of market values over the last couple of years have made that strategy very expensive. In hindsight, they must regret not paying the €50m Schalke quoted for Leroy Sané in 2016, as well as the €75m needed to lure Kevin De Bruyne to the Etihad the previous year. Buying Renato Sanches for €35m after Euro 2016 has not worked out, however, which will have only increased the reluctance of the bosses at Säbener Strass to sanction the outlay for Hudson-Odoi.
Bayern’s need to upgrade and deepen their options on the flanks after the departure of Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery is so pressing that Hudson-Odoi could yet prove a bargain, relative to other targets. His high resale value and firm interest from Dortmund, too, would have made it easier for them to pull the trigger. The Bundesliga leaders, who are six points ahead of Bayern at the half-way stage, have been one of the best clubs in the world when it comes spotting under-appreciated young talent in recent years. If they rate the player, he’s probably quite good, sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic might have thought to himself.
