Maurizio Sarri has indicated that he wants to keep Callum Hudson-Odoi at Chelsea amid interest in the youngster from Bayern Munich.
The Bundesliga club have had an offer for Hudson-Odoi rejected and are considering returning with another bid.
But Blues head coach Sarri, while reluctant to comment on whether Hudson-Odoi could be sold, suggested that he believes the 18-year-old forward has a bright future at Stamford Bridge.
“I am not in charge of the market so I only want to speak to Odoi about (performances) on the pitch,” the Italian said.
“He is a very good player, with the potential to become a great player. Now he has to improve.
“With the ball he is very good. I think he has to improve his movement without the ball, and improve, as a winger, in the defensive phase.
“But he has the potential to be become a very important player, not only for the English football but for European football.
“I think we are lucky because we have Ethan Ampadu, Andreas Christensen and Odoi. The academy is really very good.”
Many Chelsea fans are hoping the likes of Hudson-Odoi, Ampadu and Ruben Loftus-Cheek can finally end the club’s long wait for a homegrown player to establish himself as a first-team regular.
Sarri said: “I think it is important (to bring academy players through) but it is not easy at this level.
“Everywhere in Europe, even in Barcelona, there are only one or two academy players. There are none in Juventus.
“I think in Europe there are few players at 18 with eight matches at this level, and Odoi played six or seven matches, so I think he has to be lucky. But he is not lucky, he is good.”
This post was last modified on 02/01/2019