Callum Hudson-Odoi message to Christian Pulisic sends transfer signal to Chelsea fans

Callum Hudson-Odoi's Chelsea career faced a major crossroads this season.

Back in the summer as we entered the final days of the transfer window, Hudson-Odoi had made up his mind, he wanted to go on loan to Borussia Dortmund.

The Bundesliga club was only one potential destination for the winger with Atalanta and Leicester City mentioned also.

In the context of August, Hudson-Odoi's logic was sound. He had not played a single minute of competitive football for Thomas Tuchel in Chelsea's first three Premier League games.

Even Emerson Palmieri, who was set to depart on loan to Lyon for the season got a cameo role in the opening day win over Crystal Palace.

The need for Hudson-Odoi to gain valuable and consistent minutes was clear and he could not spend another season enduring long periods on Chelsea's bench.

But a deadline day loan was blocked by Tuchel. Citing the need for squad depth given the 21-year-old could fill in at wingback if required – a role he took up in the next game against Aston Villa.

It appeared like Hudson-Odoi's future would become a topic of conversation again in January with the likelihood of his spot remaining on the fringes.

Then things changed.

Sure, injuries to both Timo Werner and Romelu Lukaku opened up a clear chance to play further up the pitch in his favoured left-wing role.

But his influential displays between October and November propelled Chelsea to the top of the Premier League and suddenly the outlook for Hudson-Odoi was extremely different.

Hudson-Odoi spoke after the Club World Cup final, where he started and set up Romelu Lukaku's opener, to have his say on how things have progressed under Tuchel this term.

"Big trophies like this are games you want to be involved in with a