Fulham, Everton and Nottingham Forest are duking it out to sign Premier League rival Callum Hudson-Odoi from Chelsea. The 22-year-old was a prodigy for Chelsea when he broke onto the scene at Stamford Bridge as a teenager. However, dips in form and a pair of Achilles injuries threw in hurdles to a promising career.

Now, the Blues are looking to make some kind of profit as they must offload some players. Chelsea’s heavy spending over the last two transfer windows yielded a bloated squad. Mauricio Pochettino and Todd Boehly must clear room out. Sales would help recoup the record spending of the side. Hudson-Odoi is just the latest name as Premier League rivals look to get a deal on a Chelsea sale.

The Evening Standard reports Fulham and Hudson-Odoi had a deal for the English international to move to Craven Cottage. However, Fulham believes it can pay less than the $10 million the two agreed upon. Chelsea must clear out over $150,000 in wages to comply with financial fair play rules. The fact that Fulham is not paying the fee is frustrating the blues.

Moreover, Hudson-Odoi is ready to take a severe pay cut to move away from Stamford Bridge, even if it is to a Premier League rival. He spent last season on loan at Bayer Leverkusen. He featured prominently at the start of the season. However, he made few appearances over the last half of the season.

Hudson-Odoi seeks Premier League playing time

Fulham, the leading candidate to sign Hudson-Odoi, already made a move for Raul Jimenez. Still, with the outgoing Aleksandar Mitrovic, Fulham is looking for any options to replace its star striker.

“It’s not just about replacing Mitrovic,” Fulham manager Marco Silva said after losing to Brentford on Saturday. “Unfortunately, we still have many things to do and, unfortunately for me as manager of this football club, we still have four or five players to sign. We have 15 days to finish in the market and the striker position and the striker market is not an easy one, as you know, because many clubs are also looking for the same.”

In this case, those clubs looking for the same are Nottingham Forest and Everton. Both of those clubs are relegation candidates this year. However, Hudson-Odoi can add either depth or even a starting role to any of these three clubs. The only concerns are health and form entering this campaign.

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