Everyone at Chelsea should be celebrating Callum Hudson-Odoi’s call-up to the England senior squad, but it has given the club another reminder of what they have to lose.

This should be regarded as a success story for the much-respected academy at Stamford Bridge. Just like Ruben Loftus-Cheek before him, Hudson-Odoi has progressed all the way to the highest level in this country after joining Chelsea as an eight-year-old.

But instead of being able to dream about him having a long, successful future in west London, Chelsea know they are facing a major battle to keep him beyond the summer.

Bayern Munich had four bids turned down for his services in January and it will be a big surprise if they decide not to make another attempt to buy the 18-year-old in the next window. Their need to strengthen has become even greater after being humbled by Liverpool in the Champions League last week. The Bundesliga champions looked sluggish and bereft of ideas — the very antithesis of Chelsea’s prodigious winger.

It has been well documented that Hudson-Odoi’s current contract runs out in 2020 and he has ignored the club’s attempts to sign an extension thus far. While Chelsea are prepared to pay him a salary in excess of £80,000-a-week, the amount of game time he can earn is his main priority.

By selecting him for the Euro 2020 qualifiers against the Czech Republic and Montenegro, England coach Gareth Southgate has sent out a message that he feels Hudson-Odoi is good enough for the biggest stage. However, it contradicts the signal being sent out by Chelsea coach Maurizio Sarri, who appears to be doing his utmost to not give the player too much, too soon.

Anyone who witnessed the youngster lead Arsenal’s experienced right-back Hector Bellerin a merry dance during a pre-season friendly last August could see he was ready to make an impact. But Sarri has handed Hudson-Odoi just eight starts this term, none of which have been in the Premier League.

The Italian has been reluctant to pick him in games that really matter: this month’s Europa League tie against Dynamo Kiev was a classic example.

Sarri named him on the bench for the first leg, once again preferring the ageing limbs of Willian and Pedro, who, in fairness, both played well and scored. But it was Hudson-Odoi who provided the crucial third goal after coming on as a late substitute which made Chelsea’s progress to the last-eight a formality.

Sarri bristled in his press conference afterwards when questioned why the youngster was not in the team to begin with. After claiming once again how much he rates Hudson-Odoi, the following comments were more telling.

“In my opinion, a player at 18 years old cannot be at the top,” said Sarri, conveniently forgetting the success enjoyed by Kylian Mbappe over the last few seasons and Jadon Sancho now. “He needs to improve until he’s 22 or 23. To have pressure when you’re 18 is dangerous. You can lose [sight of] the target. When you’re 18, the target is to improve tactically, mentally and physically. Now he needs to improve without the pressure of the media, the fans and the club, but he is in my mind for every match.”

Sarri might argue he is trying to protect a junior player from expectations getting out of control or perhaps a talent starting to believe his own hype, but every time Hudson-Odoi is on the pitch, things happen and the Chelsea fans already love him for it.

His performance against Dynamo in Ukraine last week demonstrated why, as Hudson-Odoi scored his fourth Europa League goal and made another for Marcos Alonso. He also showed great composure for someone so young in coping with racist abuse.

An official complaint was made to Uefa afterwards but Hudson-Odoi did not want any unsavoury episodes to detract from the team’s result and, along with the club, chose not to make the incident public on the night.

Chelsea are already pretty much resigned to losing Eden Hazard to Real Madrid in the summer.

With the club facing a two-window transfer ban from Fifa, subject to an appeal, Chelsea can ill afford for Hudson-Odoi to leave, too.

If he does not agree fresh terms, Chelsea then have to consider the risk of him running his contract down and leaving for a nominal compensatory figure in 2020. At least that would give them another 12 months to try to convince him that Chelsea is the best place for his career to progress.

Due to Sarri’s reluctance to pick Hudson-Odoi on a regular basis, that will be a tough argument to win should the Italian remain at the helm at the Bridge.

However, there are a number of reasons why the club might decide to part ways with Sarri after only one campaign — and the importance of keeping Hudson-Odoi at Chelsea might be what tips the balance.