Glenn Hoddle Claims Chelsea Talent Callum Hudson-Odoi Still Has 'Not Proven Anything'

Ex-Chelsea manager Glenn Hoddle has claimed that much talked about young talent Callum Hudson-Odoi has 'not proven anything' and won't be able to change that until he starts getting more chances in bigger games.

Chelsea rejected multiple bids from Bayern Munich for the player during the January transfer window and manager Maurizio Sarri has been very careful in his use of Hudson-Odoi, with much criticism directed at the Italian coach as a result.

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"He needs to get out there and play, he hasn't played enough," Hoddle said on BT Sport. "He hasn't had 20 games, the amount of time he has had on the pitch is 766 minutes, eight and a half games. They are talking about selling him for £40m. He has not proven anything yet."

For Hoddle, who was back in role as a pundit for the first time since suffering a near fatal heart attack on his 61st birthday in October, that can only come if the player gets more chances, and crucially, more chances against the big teams.

Without that, Hoddle insists it is impossible to know how good he actually is.

"First of all, he has to get the chance to go in there and get the experience under his belt," the ex-England, Tottenham and Southampton boss explained.

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"We don't know where he can go, we don't know how good he is, he hasn't been tested against the top teams. I haven't seen him tear Man City apart or go in Europe and tear people apart.

"He has got immense talent, he looks the part but he needs the time to play."

Hudson-Odoi began Thursday night's Europa League last 16 win over Dynamo Kyiv on the bench, appearing late on to score Chelsea's third goal in a 3-0 first leg win, his third goal of the season in the competition overall.

But while the 18-year-old has been semi regular in Europe, he is still yet to start a Premier League game and was left out of recent league fixtures against Tottenham and Manchester City, as well as being kept on the bench in the FA Cup against Manchester United.

He was a second half substitute in the Carabao Cup final against City last month.