"The only person who can decide this and answer this question is Callum," was Thomas Tuchel's response when asked last October if a home game against Norwich could help Callum Hudson-Odoi revive his Chelsea career.
"He needs to play the next 250 games on the highest level, and then that was the turning point. But is it a turning point if he does a brilliant match tomorrow? No.
"Once you do this, you will have more minutes. Once you have more minutes, you will maybe look back and say: 'That was a turning point.' You need to fight for it. You need to deserve it. It must be a perfect fit in a perfect moment."
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Hudson-Odoi would start, score, and play well, and Chelsea would go on to win the game 7-0, the most they have scored in a single game under Tuchel since his appointment.
This start against the Canaries would begin a decent stretch in the team, playing from the left as Chelsea would beat Newcastle, Malmo, Leicester and Juventus in a run that looked like the firmest turning point in the youngster's career.
Ten months later, Hudson-Odoi is on the verge of a loan away in search of reviving his career somewhere else. There was no sign of him in Tuesday afternoon's open training session at Stamford Bridge, mere hours before reports broke of an imminent loan being finalised.
The location looks set to be in the Bundesliga with Bayer Leverkusen, who have not started their season off brilliantly.
"Leverkusen are in need of a lift after a disappointing start to the season." Kevin Hatchard, Bundesliga commentator and expert, tells football.london.
"They have lost their first four competitive games for the first time as a Bundesliga club, and they have been misfiring in attack. Hudson-Odoi is a player German clubs have been looking at for years, so it makes sense that Bayer would go for him.
"Gerardo Seoane plays an attacking style with plenty of width, so there's definitely scope for Hudson-Odoi to get games. Adam Hlozek and Sardar Azmoun haven't yet impressed, and injuries to Amine Adli and Karim Bellarabi mean that Bayer need Hudson-Odoi, especially when the Champions League group stage starts."
Even with concerns over Bayer's form, this move would undeniably offer Hudson-Odoi an escape from the consistent limbo he has been in at Stamford Bridge. A chance to potentially gain consistent minutes and a favoured role in one of Europe's top five leagues.
It feels slightly ironic this deal is close, given the winger could have gotten a Bundesliga loan 12 months ago, with Borussia Dortmund keen. But Tuchel blocked the move, the reasoning linked to squad depth but maybe also due to a feeling his development was better served in the Premier League.
It is unknown how that loan last season would have gone, nor how much a good season with Leverkusen this year is going to alter the German's perception of the attacker who has struggled to gain trust.
There are still many that feel Chelsea would have been smarter accepting either of Bayern Munich's two permanent offers for Hudson-Odoi in 2019 and 2020, given how little he has progressed into the first-team since then.
"Cal is a serious talent, who post-injury has been used as if he's a journeyman in the late stage of his career." Ollie Glanvill, Chelsea season-ticket holder and podcaster, tells football.london.
"Multiple positions and roles without ever being really allowed to make mistakes or hold down a spot. Of course, injuries have kept him out at times but unlike other options with similar injury records, he's often been asked to "do a job" for the team, sacrificing attacking intent in order to be a facilitator."
In the early months of Tuchel's reign, Hudson-Odoi was used as a wingback, pushing up the pitch against inferior opposition and looking like a talent Tuchel would take careful attention to mould and integrate into his plans.
"His creative numbers, in spite of the tactical impediment, suggest far better uses for him. Going to the Bundesliga without the pressure to perform and with vast canyons of space to work in might be considered by some to be easy mode, but the emergence of talents such as former blue Jamal Musiala, Jadon Sancho, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens and others in the league suggest it can be used as a platform to kick on from.
"Todd Boehly has personally interceded to stop the sale of the player. Despite what you read on Twitter, those actually in the world of football know the talent that he possesses.
"He needs consistent game time, consistent fitness and the opportunity to rediscover his confidence with the ball at his feet, to make a mistake and not be hooked at half-time. Cal is a world-class talent, and if he can knit those performances together, we will see that again."
A year away might rekindle that old interest from Bayern. And even if the style of Bundesliga might not fully replicate the challenge of England's top tier, at this point, does that really matter? Especially for a player who needs to forge his own path and start answering those lingering questions over his potential that have stuck since he signed a lucrative five-year contract in 2019.
You do wonder what Hudson-Odoi makes of the interest in Anthony Gordon from Everton, an unproven wide player whose numbers were not better than his own last term. With Hudson-Odoi matching the same number of goals (4) and creating eight more (11-3).
And interestingly, when Hudson-Odoi has been given the chance to start under Tuchel, Chelsea haven't lost a single game, winning 24 and drawing six.
Hudson-Odoi is unlikely to get the '250 games' Tuchel requires him to claim a turning point, but for the player, an overdue revamp in environment and circumstance can hopefully offer the opportunity he has craved.
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