FootyDream

Chelsea winger Callum Hudson-Odoi hopes that he can return to the England squad despite interest from the Ghana national team.

The 21-year-old has not been selected by Gareth Southgate in two-and-a-half years and qualifies to play for the Black Stars due to his heritage, but he seems determined to play for the Three Lions.

Asked whether he would commit his international future to England and reject Ghana, Odoi told the Evening Standard: “I don’t know. At the end of the day, we will wait until that time comes. At the same time, I’ve just got to focus on the club until we get that far.”

Odoi has three caps for England with the latest of those coming in the European Championship qualifier in Kosovo in November 2019 and it is said that he had angered the English FA after turning down the opportunity to play for England’s under-21 side for internationals against Romania and Kosovo.

He did further damage to his chances of featuring for the Three Lions when he turned down a call-up by Gareth Southgate for the matches against Albania and San Marino in November.

All three of his England caps were won before the age of 21 and as long as he does not add to those three caps, he can apply to represent Ghana later this year under FIFA rules as it will be three years since his last England outings.

Juventus could reinforce their midfield with the signing of Thomas Partey from Arsenal in summer, according to reports in Italy.

The former Italian champions are long-term admirers of Partey who has not fared bad since joining Arsenal. The Ghanaian International completed a sensational £45million deal to North London in October 2020 transfer Deadline Day.

It’s understood that Juve were among clubs who contacted Partey for a potential sign-up before the Ghanaian’s big-money move to Arsenal two seasons ago.

With Partey snubbing Juve for Arsenal move, the midfielder, 28, is still tracked by the former Serie A champions who failed to win last season’s domestic league title.

This season too don’t looks likely for Juve to clinch the Serie A title after sitting 5th place and 11 points behind defending champions Inter Milan on top of the table.

In view to bounce back domestically and win their most priority, the UEFA Champions League- that has eluded them since their last glory in 1996, they have kept on with their transfer ambitions.

Allegri’s side have announced January deals for Fiorentina forward Dušan Vlahović and Borussia Mönchengladbach star midfielder Denis Zakaria though they lost Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur in return.

With the Old Ladies knee on making further reinforcements in summer, boss Max Allegri could play bigger part regarding who comes into the current setup as reports in Italy suggest the tactician have on paper a preferred midfield trio of Denis Zakaria, Manuel Locatelli and Thomas Partey.

That is according to Ghanaian portal Ghana Soccer Net, and Juve have to only make the ‘paper plan’ a reality. A move for the Ghana Black Stars captain has not yet been officially discussed in Turin and Juve new sporting director Federico Cherubini has not sanctioned any move for Partey yet.

This means the Ghanaian’s potential signing at Juventus is only ‘on paper of Allegri’ who according to sources admires Thomas Partey with good passion. However, Partey face stiffer competition in attempt to join Juve at the end of this season with the Serie A side also outlining Manchester United star Paul Pogba and AC Milan’s Franck Kessié as alternatives.

Both Pogba and Kessie will have their contract expire in June this year. As it stands now, Manchester have not shown the intend of renewing Pogba’s stay at Old Trafford while AC Milan have remained the same.

Paul Pogba returned to action in Manchester United’s FA Cup 4th Round 7-8 defeat on penalties at home but the French International assisted his club’s only goal of the regular time. Kessie was also linked with a move to Real Madrid in January but failed.

If Partey’s move to Juve fails to materialize, Real Madrid would enter into competition with Juve for Kesse who has been considered as Partey’s alternative.

Both Manchester United and AC Milan may want to keep Pogba and Kessie for next season which increases the chances for Juve-Partey union. Partey has three remaining years contract at Arsenal that expires at the end of 2025 season.

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has sent a strong message to Thomas Partey after suffering worrying 2021 Afcon campaign with Black Stars after his country failed to progress into knockout phase in Cameroon. Arteta told Partey he needs to be “fully focused” on the job at hand when he returns to Arsenal.

Arteta did not express any sympathy for Partey, saying the player must now turn his attentions to club matters.

“They played last night,” Arteta told the media ahead of the second leg of his side’s Carabao Cup clash with Liverpool.

“It was a huge disappointment for Tommy obviously because [he was] representing his country and in this period he had big games.

“He needs to be fully focused and involved now with Arsenal. When? As soon as possible.”

Ghana endured a dismal string of performances at the tournament in Cameroon as they failed to win a single group game for the first time in their history.

The Black Stars were beaten 1-0 by Morocco in their opening match of the competition, before battling to a 1-1 draw with Gabon.

They needed to win their third match to stand any chance of progressing to the knockout stages.

But they were humiliated by debutants Comoros after being forced to play with 10 men for well over an hour after striker Andre Ayew was sent off.