German defender Antonio Rudiger has urged his Premier League side Chelsea to ensure they stop Callum Hudson-Odoi from joining Bayern Munich.
The winger, who scored one of the Blues's goals in Sunday's 3-0 FA Cup win over Sheffield Wednesday has been heavily linked to join the Bundesliga champion this month.
According to Talk Sport, the 18-year-old appears to have handed the Stamford Bridge outfit transfer request in a bid to guarantee himself more playing time at the Allianz Arena.
However, the FA Cup defending champions seem not ready to lose one of their academy graduates this month.
And the 25-year-old believes Chelsea must do all they can to keep the teenage sensation at the Bridge beyond this transfer window.
"What I can say is clear: Chelsea have to make him stay, " he told the Evening Standard.
"It will be a pity if this young talent leaves us. "He decides his future but Chelsea need to give him a new contract. "
Shortly after his goal in the FA Cup tie last night, Blues fans were caught chanting 'Hudson-Odoi, we want you to stay'.
And Rudiger echoed the thoughts of Chelsea assistant manager Gianfranco Zola, who insists the club are desperate for Hudson-Odoi to stay.
"He has a contract. We believe in what he can do for this team. I don't think there are many 18-year-old players around Europe that are are playing as much as him in a big team .
"If you look at Juventus, all the big teams, they don't have many 18-year-old players playing like we do .
"That shows that we believe in him, we think he can be an important player for us, so we will see what happens .
"We can do as much as we can do. From our point of view he has a lot of strong players next to him. But we still find the space for him to play .
"Did he look like he didn't want to play? Yesterday in training he scored a fantastic goal ."
Comments