The 20-year-old wants his current focus to be solely on winning a regular starting role in Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea team.
England have received no suggestion that Callum Hudson-Odoi is considering switching allegiance to Ghana after the Chelsea winger again turned down the opportunity to be part of the Under-21 national team for this month’s qualifiers.
Lee Carsley, the Under-21 head coach, and senior manager Gareth Southgate have both spoken with Hudson-Odoi about his situation since the last international break, when he asked to be left out to focus on winning a more regular place in the starting XI of his club side.
Hudson-Odoi played 37 times for Chelsea last season but has made only Premier League appearance so far this campaign, in addition to a League Cup start and a cameo off the bench in Wednesday night’s defeat to Juventus in the Champions League.
There have since been reports of the 20-year-old weighing up a move to represent Ghana, for whom he remains eligible despite playing for England’s senior side, but Carsley said there has been no suggestion of that and the door will stay open for him to rejoin the setup whenever he sees fit.
“There’s no real update to be honest,” the head coach said. “It remains the same. Callum will stay back at Chelsea and try to get into the team there. We spoke to him to see how he was getting on and feeling. So has Gareth. There’s been no real change there.
“No intentions or suggestions were made in that regard [with Ghana]. As far as we’re concerned Callum is still commited to England. We look forward to having him back at some point.”
England Under-21 squad:
Joe Bursik, Etienne Green, Josh Griffiths; Max Aarons, Levi Colwill, Charlie Cresswell, Marc Guehi, Taylor Harwood-Bellis, Valentino Livramento, Luke Thomas; Tommy Doyle, Conor Gallagher, Jimmy Garner, Curtis Jones, Cole Palmer, Jacob Ramsey, Oliver Skipp; Flo Balogun, Rhian Brewster, Angel Gomes, Tyreece John-Jules, Noni Madueke, Emile Smith Rowe.
Source: football London
