Borussia Dortmund emerge as rivals to Bayern Munich in potential bidding war for Chelsea's Callum Hudson-Odoi

Matt Law

20 March 2019 at 6:30 pm

Borussia Dortmund are ready to challenge Bayern Munich in their bid to sign Callum Hudson-Odoi from Chelsea this summer.

Bayern failed with a £35million bid for Hudson-Odoi in January and are planning to make another offer at the end of the season, despite Chelsea warning them off.

But Bayern face competition from Dortmund, who can use Hudson-Odoi’s new England team-mate Jadon Sancho as proof of the opportunities they give to youngsters.

Sancho has made 26 Bundesliga starts for Dortmund, while Hudson-Odoi still waits to make his first Premier League start.

Intriguingly, Chelsea have already signed Christian Pulisic, who will arrive in the summer, for £58m from Dortmund and Manchester United have been linked with a £100m move for Sancho.

Bayern are still in pole position to sign Hudson-Odoi if he does leave Chelsea in the summer, but Dortmund’s interest raises the prospect of a bidding war.

Despite his lack of League action, Hudson-Odoi was a late addition into Gareth Southgate’s England squad for the Euro 2020 qualifiers against Czech Republic and Montenegro following injuries.

The 18-year-old’s current contract will only have one year left to run at the end of this season, but that does not mean Chelsea will necessarily welcome bids.

With a transfer ban hanging over them and Eden Hazard expected to join Real Madrid, Chelsea may try to keep Hudson-Odoi – even if he won’t sign a new deal.

The Blues were willing to offer Hudson-Odoi a new £70,000-a-week contract in January and could return with an even bigger offer at the end of the season.

It remains to be seen whether or not the future of head coach Maurizio Sarri will have any bearing on Hudson-Odoi’s future.

Sarri remains under pressure at Chelsea and sources still believe he will be sacked, most likely in the summer, which could spark a re-think from Hudson-Odoi and his advisors.

Hudson-Odoi is currently with Sancho on England duty and the pair have previously discussed the opportunities on offer in the Bundesliga.

“Me and Callum are close friends,” said Sancho. “I have told him the Bundesliga is a nice league. I just told him to do whatever is best for him and whatever makes him feel comfortable.”