Chelsea winger Callum Hudson-Odoi says it took only one conversation with new boss Frank Lampard to convince him to stay at Stamford Bridge.
The 19-year-old handed in a transfer request in January after Chelsea rejected a £35m bid from Bayern Munich.
But he broke into Maurizio Sarri’s side last season and has impressed for Lampard who took charge in the summer.
“He wants me to play for him,” Hudson-Odoi said. “They were encouraging signs that you want to hear from a manager.”
Hudson-Odoi made his England debut in March before his first Premier League start for Chelsea the following month.
But having made 24 appearances for the Blues he ruptured his Achilles tendon against Burnley on April 22 and was ruled out for the remainder of the season, missing the Europa League final victory over Arsenal.
He was also sidelined for the Nations League finals, but shortly after Lampard’s arrival he agreed a new five-year contract.
Since returning to fitness Hudson-Odoi has helped Chelsea to third in the Premier League, earning a place in the England squad for the Euro 2020 qualifiers against Montenegro and Kosovo.
Asked how many conversations he had with Lampard before agreeing to sign a new deal, he replied: “One. I can’t say exactly what he said but he just said he believes in me, he wants me to work hard and if I believe in myself then he believes in me and things will go well for me at this club.”
Chelsea attracted attention off the field this week when a photograph of Lampard’s list of fines for first-team players was leaked.
The list revealed that any player late for training would be fined £20,000 and that all penalties had to be paid within 14 days — or be doubled.
“To be fair, we have a couple of fines where it’s pretty strict and we have to stick by it,” Hudson-Odoi explained. “But even if there weren’t fines, we would still be on point. All of us are very on time with everything that we do. We’re very positive about everything we do. If there is a fine, we will pay it.”
“For the fines, we don’t really look into it because we are always on time for what we do so it’s OK. It’s there but we’re all good about it. He is hard on me but it’s in a good way because he wants me to improve and keep getting better.”
“When the manager is telling me stuff, I always want to listen and improve my game because I’m not there yet. I know I can always get better and keep getting better.”
