Chelsea's familiar £30m ultimatum will force Todd Boehly to answer Christian Pulisic question

It has probably gone under the radar that Thomas Tuchel effectively ruled Callum Hudson-Odoi out for the season before Leicester.

"He dropped out of the squad from one day to the other, more or less." Tuchel explained on Wednesday. "Still, in individual training, progressing but not in team training. He will come early in pre-season like Chilwell to start a programme to be back on July 2 with team training."

Being grouped in with Ben Chilwell, who has been out with an ACL injury since November, was a disheartening endpoint to a season that at times promised soo much for the winger. In the cold in the opening weeks with rumours of a loan away, to then being thrust into the first-team in his favoured left-wing role.

Suffering from an Achilles tendon problem since February, Hudson-Odoi's last Premier League involvement came in late January's 2-0 win over Spurs, a game he started on the left of Tuchel's attack and provided an assist for Hakim Ziyech's opener.

His most significant involvement since was the assist for Romelu Lukaku's opening goal in the FIFA Club World Cup final against Palmeiras, but that act feels a very long time ago now in the world of Chelsea.

Whilst the club has been thrown into chaos with the sanctions imposed on Roman Abramovich and the imminent takeover by a group led by Todd Boehly, nearly every player's future has been questioned in some form, or simply around the nature of the club's competitiveness post-Abramovich.

But even within that uncertainty, Hudson-Odoi enters this summer with a familiar question. Although 2021/22 did provide him more minutes than last season, a run of consecutive starts in his favoured role and some highs, the extended injury concern has significantly halted any