Chelsea are well-known for sending young players out on loan and selling them years later.
It is becoming increasingly rare to see academy players coming through the ranks at Stamford Bridge and going on to star in the first team.
This could be set to change under new boss Maurizio Sarri.
Like most club bosses, the former Napoli manager used pre-season to learn about his players.
But with so many first team members on holiday after the World Cup, the youngsters were given the chance to stake their claim to a regular place in Sarri’s squad.
One player who took full advantage of that opportunity was Callum Hudson-Odoi.
Here’s what we know about the talented academy graduate…
Footballing family
It was inevitable that Hudson-Odoi would be a footballer because it is in the family.
His older brother Bradley is also a footballer, who plays for non-league Weladstone. He started his career at Fulham as a youngster but never made it into the first-team.
Since then, he has been plying his trade at non-league level, where he currently plays for National League South side Wealdstone after rejoining from Sutton United.
Hudson Odoi’s father, Bismark, also had a career as a professional footballer. He played for Hearts of Oak in his native Ghana as a midfielder.
Career highlights
He can’t drink, get a tattoo or buy a lottery ticket, but at the age of 17 Hudson-Odoi is a World Cup winner.
He was part of England’s Under-17 World Cup squad and provided a hat-trick of assists as his country came from behind to beat Spain 5-2 in the final.
Hudson-Odoi has had plenty of success at Chelsea with their youth academy.
The youngster has already won the under-18 Premier League title and lifted two FA Youth Cups.
He bagged a brace in the second leg of this year’s FA Youth Cup Final as the Blues won their fifth straight FA Youth Cup with victory after Arsenal.
His talent is clear to see and Chelsea used him across five different age groups last season, from the under-18s to the first team.
Where does he play?
Hudson-Odoi is a forward who can play anywhere along the front-three, as an attacking midfielder, or on the wings where he likes to cut inside.
In Chelsea’s first pre-season game, Hudson-Odoi fired a cross in from the left-flank, which Pedro converted for the only goal of the game.
Against Arsenal, in their final friendly before the Community Shield, Hudson-Odoi was in excellent form.
His pace and direct running was too much for Hector Bellerin, who struggled to contain him.
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