Callum Hudson-Odoi has admitted that the “Ghana-England situation has been on my mind” but says he doesn’t want to make any public pronouncements on the matter.
Hudson-Odoi has Ghanaian parents and his father, Bismark Odoi, played for Ghana Premier League giants Hearts of Oak in the 90s before relocating to England.
The winger has been a target of the Ghana Football Association (GFA) for some time now over a nationality switch to play for the Black Stars.
The on-loan Bayern Leverkusen star arrived in Ghana back in June and spent a week fraternising with the locals and meeting some key people.
While in Ghana, he paid a courtesy call on President Nana Akufo-Addo at the Jubilee House, where the possibility of a nationality switch was discussed.
Last week, reports emerged that the 21-year-old has been included in Ghana’s 55-man provisional squad ahead of the Qatar 2022 World Cup.
Asked about playing in the World Cup for either England or Ghana, Hudson-Odoi said he prefers to remain tight-lipped.
« Nothing I would say at the moment on camera, I would love to tell you, but I couldn’t say,” he told the BBC.
« At the moment it’s more just focusing on the best I can do here. You never know what will happen in the future.
« Obviously the Ghana-England situation has been on my mind for a while. But I think right now it was more of the focus of coming here, really getting myself back into shape, playing a lot of games and just feeling like myself. Right now my mind is just open. »
Despite already playing three times for England, a change to FIFA’s eligibility rules means he can still switch to Ghana in late 2022.
Also, Hudson-Odoi hasn’t played for the Three Lions in a long while and rejected a call-up after being relegated to England’s U-21s last year.
Pulse
