Bayern Munich CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has confirmed that Chelsea winger Callum Hudson-Odoi was the ‘only’ player the club were interested in signing this month.
The Bavarian giants’ pursuit of Hudson-Odoi was no secret, with the club submitting four highly lucrative offers to Chelsea, while the player himself was keen on a move, handing in a transfer request.
The 18-year old was believed to be frustrated by the lack of first-team opportunities he was receiving at Stamford Bridge, and was looking at other successful spells in Germany by English talent, namely in Jadon Sancho and Reiss Nelson.
Manager Maurizio Sarri was adamant that Hudson-Odoi should not be let go, which has left the Bavarians frustrated.
Talking in a news conference earlier today, Rummenigge confirmed that Hudson-Odoi was the club’s first and only target this month. As quoted by FourFourTwo, Rummenigge said:
The only one Hasan [Salihamidzic, Bayern’s sporting director] would have liked to buy was this player [Hudson-Odoi] from Chelsea.
I have to say that he nearly fell in love with this player and his qualities. All the other things [stories about transfer links with other players] were rumours.
We don’t have any demand on these positions for the second half of the season. This is a topic for the future. We’ll handle it in the next months and will decide.
I won’t deny that they [Chelsea] didn’t like this so much [Bayern’s open pursuit of Hudson-Odoi], but don’t forget that you have to give a signal to the young player [that you want him].
There was no personal contact with the player because this is not permitted. I think that was noticed. The player had to have a signal that Bayern is standing completely behind him.
