In the past few days, Arsenal have been linked with Chelsea winger, Callum Hudson-Odoi, so would the 21-year-old fit at Arsenal?
Callum Hudson-Odoi has been on the scene for years and, in the past, was compared to the likes of Messi and other quick and skilful wingers.
During that time, he was linked with Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich, and was said to be close to completing a move to both German giants at some point. Since then, however, the hype surrounding Hudson-Odoi has died down.
Despite this, Arsenal are reportedly keen on signing the forward, but is he the right fit for the club?
Hudson-Odoi operates on the right wing whilst also being able to play as a right wing-back operating in a back 5, something Tuchel experimented with in the 2019-2020 season regularly.
It is worth noting that Hudson-Odoi cannot play on the left as he extremely one footed and does not like to cut inside which means that his only real position is on the right side of the field.
Of course, with Arsenal’s young prodigy Bukayo Saka on the right, Hudson-Odoi would only be backup.
Moving to the Emirates, Hudson-Odoi would surely be aware of his role in the team, often only starting Europa League and domestic cup competitions whilst sometimes making a substitute appearance in the league.
Coming off the bench is something Hudson-Odoi does really well, due to his direct approach whilst attacking. Averaging 4.82 shot-creating actions p/90 and 3.6 progressive carries, he seems like he would be a great option to change a game if Arsenal were struggling.
That’s something Nicolas Pepe isn’t terrible at either, the Wolves win comes to mind, but with the Ivorian looking likely to go out on loan, another option may be needed.
Although Hudson-Odoi would be competing with Saka, the gap in ability is so big that Saka would never truly feel threatened for his spot in the team, unless Hudson-Odoi can find a way to take his game up another level.
That being said, is it worth Arsenal spending a little bit extra to buy someone like Yeremi Pino, the Spanish international who is also linked to the red side of London.
Pino averages 1.49 shots/90 and 2.45 shot-creating actions/90, and it’s safe to say the youngster has really found his feet in La Liga.
Whilst doing so, he has been scouted by many top teams in Europe looking to bolster their attack.
After all of this is said, I think Hudson Odoi would be a bad choice for the Gunners.
He would be a back-up but not one that improves our team.
I believe Arsenal should go for Pino or Moussa Diaby, a player who has and extra bit of quality compared to Hudson-Odoi.
If anything happens with Hudson-Odoi it’s likely to be a late panic buy should he arrived in North London, but if Arsenal look at their options strategically, Hudson-Odoi should not be one.