The young winger continued his development throughout the season, taking some significant steps by showing he could make a regular impact in the Premier League and Champions League, as well as adding more versatility to his game.

After continuing to build on his potential in the early stages of the campaign, Hudson-Odoi came back strongly from an injury to become an important option for Thomas Tuchel, allowing our head coach to take a more attacking approach without shifting away from his preferred 3-4-3 system.

Champions League breakthrough

Having played an increasingly prominent role during the 2019/20 season, Hudson-Odoi continued that trend by taking the next step in his development and featuring regularly, albeit as a substitute, in the Premier League. That did see him come off the bench at half-time to play a big role in our fightback from three goals down to draw 3-3 away at West Bromwich Albion, scoring our second.

The winger had an even bigger impact on the early stages of our Champions League campaign, featuring in our first five group games and opening the scoring in away wins at Krasnodar and Rennes, his first two goals in Europe's top club competition, before an injury ruled him out for much of our difficult December.

Coming back strongly

When he returned from that injury just in time for Christmas, it was to a Chelsea team which was struggling for results. However, his exciting performances from the bench were one of the few positives from the turn of the year, as he injected some much-needed energy into the side.

He also showed a consistent end product, finding the net to provide a consolation in the defeat to Manchester City, in addition to helping get our FA Cup run off the a good start with a goal and an assist in the 4-0 win over Morecambe and setting up Tammy Abraham’s third goal of the victory against Luton Town in Frank Lampard’s last game as Blues boss.

Another string to his bow

The big surprise on Thomas Tuchel’s first team sheet as Chelsea head coach was the appearance of Hudson-Odoi in an unfamiliar wing-back position, but it proved to be an inspired decision as he delivered one of the stand-out performances from that draw at Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Providing an attacking edge in that role and linking up well with Cesar Azpilicueta and Timo Werner down the right, it was also that combination which provided the first goal of the Tuchel era, Hudson-Odoi setting up Azpilicueta to open the scoring in a 2-0 Premier League win over Burnley at Stamford Bridge.

That newfound versatility proved important, as the now 20-year-old could alternate seamlessly between his new wing-back role and that of a more traditional winger, as the game and opponents demanded. Tuchel’s appreciation for that option was shown by the fact Hudson-Odoi featured in 13 of the 19 Premier League fixtures under his management, and every FA Cup game except the semi-final.

Callum Hudson-Odoi 2020/21 Chelsea stats

Appearances: 37

Starts: 19

Substituted: 14

Unused sub: 16

Minutes played: 1,960

Goals: 5

Assists: 7

Callum Hudson-Odoi Premier League appearances 2020/21

Callum Hudson-Odoi played 23 games in the Premier League for Chelsea this season, coming off the bench for 13 of them.

Callum Hudson-Odoi Champions League appearances 2020/21

Callum Hudson-Odoi made seven appearances in the Champions League this season, four from the start.

Callum Hudson-Odoi FA Cup appearances 2020/21

Callum Hudson-Odoi played five games in the FA Cup this season, two of them from the bench.

Callum Hudson-Odoi Carabao Cup appearances 2020/21

Callum Hudson-Odoi made two appearances in the Carabao Cup this season, both from the start.

Callum Hudson-Odoi goals 2020/21

Callum Hudson-Odoi scored five goals for Chelsea in 2020/21, two in the Premier League, two in the Champions League and one in the FA Cup.