Frank Lampard has urged Callum Hudson-Odoi to learn from his mistakes off the pitch and put his focus into becoming a top Chelsea player on it.
The 19-year-old was caught breaking lockdown rules during the COVID-19 pandemic after being arrested by police after an alleged row at 4am with a reported Instagram model.
Hudson-Odoi was then accused of ‘rape’, however the Metropolitan Police confirmed that following a thorough investigation they would take no further action against the England international.
It has been another turbulent season for the winger, with Hudson-Odoi having struggled with injuries and not being able to get some consistent form.
Hudson-Odoi signed a new five-year, £120,000-per-week contract with the club in September, however has started just seven Premier League games this season, with one goal and four assists.
With the signing of Christian Pulisic last year, with Hakim Ziyech and Timo Werner also set to join the club for the next campaign, there will be pressure on Hudson-Odoi to perform at a high level.
And Lampard has urged his young star to put the off-field mistakes to the side and concentrate on being the best Chelsea player he can be.
“I’m very happy that in the eyes of the law it’s been sorted out. That was my main concern at first. So that’s positive for us,” Lampard said.
“I’m very sympathetic to the idea that we’re not angels or saints and we make mistakes particularly at a young age. I will never be one to come down too harshly, albeit we have had conversations, myself and Callum.
“The big conversations with Callum now is to make sure he learns his lesson from what happened. He broke lockdown and that wasn’t good enough. He’s admitted that and we move on.
“The next thing is to train consistently at a really high level to work hard in training every day. He came back from lockdown and got injured early in this period so now he’s having to work hard to get fit again.
“As much as the pitfalls off the pitch I want to see how he can work on the training pitch and get into this team, and perform to levels we all believe he can. It doesn’t come easy. That’s the big thing I say to Callum a lot and something he really has to take on board now.”
