England manager Gareth Southgate reportedly expects that Callum Hudson-Odoi will switch national allegiances to Ghana after the Chelsea star rejected an Under-21 call-up.
Hudson-Odoi was on the bench for Chelsea’s opening three Premier League matches of the season before starting in his side’s 3-0 win over Aston Villa last Saturday.
The 20-year-old Chelsea winger’s lack of playing time has seen him fail to make Southgate’s England squad.
Hudson-Odoi, who was linked with Leicester City and Borussia Dortmund in the summer, hasn’t played for England since their 4-0 win over Kosovo in 2019.
The England international surprisingly turned down the opportunity to link up with Lee Carsley’s England Under-21s last month, with Hudson-Odoi wanting to ‘work on his development at Chelsea.’
According to The Daily Mail, Southgate is unconvinced that Hudson-Odoi will commit his long-term future to England amid growing friction with the English FA.
It is believed that Hudson-Odoi could shift his national allegiances away from England and represent Ghana in time for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Hudson-Odoi would be eligible to make the change after meeting FIFA’s rules, despite being capped for England already.
FIFA’s rules permit that a player can switch national allegiances if they haven’t made more than three appearances for their country, all of the caps came before they turned 21 and none of them took place in a major international tournament.
Hudson-Odoi played in three Euro qualifies for England against the Czech Republic, Montenegro and Kosovo in 2019.
The Chelsea star is reportedly keen to play at a major international tournament and doesn’t have high hopes of making the England squad for the 2022 World Cup.
Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel insisted that Hudson-Odoi would need to “deal with the consequences” of snubbing his England Under-21 call-up.
“It’s his decision and nothing to do with my opinion or the club’s,” he said in August.
“If I speculate a little bit, I think it’s about disappointment that he is not nominated for the first team, but at the same time maybe he did not have enough minutes to be nominated for the first team.
“I could see the upgrade in having some minutes and being in a leading role for the Under 21s, but he decided differently so he will deal with the consequences.”
