Callum Hudson-Odoi has opened up about his decision to leave Chelsea as he prepares to return to Stamford Bridge with Nottingham Forest.
Hudson-Odoi, who joined Chelsea as a seven-year-old, departed for Forest in the summer of 2023 despite signing a lucrative contract during his time with the Blues.
Once considered one of the club’s brightest prospects, his promising trajectory was disrupted by a significant Achilles injury, leading to a decline in his first-team opportunities.
After a loan spell with Bayer Leverkusen, he eventually sought a fresh start elsewhere.
Now, Hudson-Odoi is set to face his former club for the first time when Nottingham Forest visit Chelsea in their upcoming Premier League fixture.
Having already made a strong impact this season, including scoring a crucial goal in Forest’s surprise victory over Liverpool at Anfield, the winger is eager to return to familiar surroundings and showcase his talent once more.
He told the Daily Mail: “I got the opportunities at Chelsea and played a lot of games.
“But I got to the point where I had to look at it and realize it had been nice, but it was time to go.
“It was a big decision but the right one. You have to recognize when it is the right time to move on. And that was my time.
“A case of needing to get out of there – not in a bad way – but to go and find my football again and enjoy myself again. It’s a nice feeling to go back to Chelsea next week, I haven’t been back since I left.
“Hopefully the fans won’t boo me, hopefully they will clap or something.
“I’ve got a lot of love for Chelsea, that’s the club I grew up with as a kid, but we’ll go there as the same mentality as we did against Liverpool to hopefully get three points.”
Both teams have upcoming fixtures before their Premier League clash.
Nottingham Forest will face Fulham on Saturday, while Chelsea will play against Brighton and then take on Gent on Thursday in the Conference League.
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