As the dream of a return to European football moved closer to reality last season, there was one song that epitomised the mood at Nottingham Forest more than any other.
Based on Estelle’s ‘American Boy’, the lyrics included: “I really want to spend Thursdays with you… Super Callum Hudson-Odoi…” and went on to celebrate the prospect of visiting places like “Leverkusen, Copenhagen and Marseille”.
For two seasons, the threat provided by Hudson-Odoi down the Forest left and the searing pace of Anthony Elanga on the opposite flank were at the core of Forest’s rise up the Premier League table — and eventually to qualification for the Europa League.
When Elanga was sold to Newcastle for £52million last summer, Hudson-Odoi became Forest’s most experienced and most important wide man.
A Champions League, Europa League and FA Cup winner, Hudson-Odoi nevertheless arrived in Nottingham as a Chelsea outcast, a young man who had gone from being regarded as a bright talent to being sold for just £3million, with a further potential £2million in add-ons, when he joined Forest in September 2023.
In the intervening period, the 25-year-old established himself as a fan favourite who generated excitement. He scored the winning goals against Manchester City and Liverpool last season.
When he signed a three-year contract this summer, it fended off fears he could be lured away, with his previous deal set to expire in the summer of 2026. It felt like a landmark moment for both the player and the club.
But behind the scenes at Forest, in the final stages of last season and at the start of the current campaign, there had been a sense that Hudson-Odoi was capable of more, according to a source close to the squad, who spoke anonymously to protect relationships. Before last weekend, his Premier League return this season was one goal and no assists in six starts and eight sub appearances, though he won praise for his performance against Porto in Sean Dyche’s first game in charge, where he was his previous rampaging self.
Dyche and his assistants, Ian Woan and Steve Stone, have worked with all the club’s wingers. Dyche likes his team to deliver high-quality balls into the box to test opposition defences with their threat down the flanks. Woan was a winger for Forest between 1990 and 2000, making over 200 appearances and he has put on sessions for the current crop of wide men.
Dyche has made it a priority to work on Hudson-Odoi’s core fitness, particularly following a thigh injury which hampered his progress at the start of last month. “He is coming along nicely. I am enjoying working with him. He is a different character than what I thought: he smiles a lot, he works hard and I think he is enjoying it,” Dyche said in a recent press conference.
Hudson-Odoi is a hard-working, professional figure on the training ground. He is not as outgoing a character as Ola Aina, who is one of his closest friends in the dressing room, but he is a bubbly, popular figure nevertheless. When he delivered one of his best performances in a Forest shirt against Tottenham last weekend, you could see that his teammates were genuinely happy for him. A lot of hard work behind the scenes had paid off.
His first goal was a simple tap-in, laid on by the industry and intelligence of Ibrahim Sangare, who had robbed Archie Gray of possession on the edge of the penalty area. His second was a version of his trademark goal, as he cut inside on the left, before delivering a cross that curled and looped inside the far post. He capped off his afternoon by cutting a simple ball back for Sangare to hammer home a spectacular final goal in the 3-0 win.
Much of Forest’s attacking threat comes down the left side, whether it has been through Hudson-Odoi or Nico Dominguez and Dan Ndoye, who both filled in for the winger during his brief spell on the sidelines. Only Bournemouth (43 per cent) have taken a higher proportion of their attacking touches down the left side than Forest this season (42 per cent).
Hudson-Odoi might be missing Chris Wood more than anyone else in the Forest side, given his tendency is not to deliver looping balls into the box, but to provide the kind of cut-backs into dangerous areas that the New Zealand striker normally thrives upon. Igor Jesus hitting the post against Chelsea, Wood’s header against Crystal Palace early in the season and Morgan Gibbs-White’s acrobatic miss against Brentford were all examples of classic wing play from Hudson-Odoi that were not rewarded with an assist.
On the other side, it seems Ndoye is struggling to get into good areas consistently — he’s averaging around 0.07 xG per game so far in the Premier League — that was up at 0.29 last year at Bologna, so clearly he’s capable of being much more dangerous. The fact that Forest focus so many attacks down the opposite flank may not always help him.
Omari Hutchinson has shown a few brilliant flashes, with Forest having been patient with him following his £37.5million move from Ipswich. While Forest also have high hopes for Dilane Bakwa, the £30million capture from Strasbourg, who has seen his progress hampered by injury. Forest are not short of wide options.
But, as the graphic below shows, Hudson-Odoi was the most advanced player down the left side for Forest in their performance against Tottenham. More than that, he was again one of their most influential.
When asked if he felt there was more to come from him, before the visit of Malmo in the Europa League, Hudson-Odoi spoke about the bond among the squad, which he credited Dyche for restoring, following the chaotic 39-day tenure of Ange Postecoglou.
Hudson-Odoi forged a strong bond with Nuno Espirito Santo, who preceded Postecoglou, but has also spoken positively about the impact made by Dyche.
“The new manager’s come in now, and he has full belief in everybody,” said Hudson-Odoi. “And you can tell that the trust and connections are there between us. The connections that were a bit lost for a bit of a while, but now I think everything’s connecting back nicely. There’s another level for me to go up, and hopefully I’ll do that this season.
“From the moment he (Dyche) came in, you could tell the energy levels have risen. We’re all bonding very well, whether it’s off the pitch or on the pitch, trying to find the right connection between players and all the staff have been trying to help to bring the best out all of us.”
Against Tottenham, it felt like it was Hudson-Odoi emphatically back at his best. His next challenge, as he says himself, is to show that he can go up another level again.