At a time when the England football team has been hit by hostile club rivalry of Raheem Sterling and Joe Gomez, Callum Hudson-Odoi seems to be maintaining cordial relationships with national teammates.
Manchester City midfielder Sterling and Liverpool defender had an ugly physical confrontation in training session on Monday.
The pair also had a heated argument in the Premier League match between Liverpool and Manchester City at the Anfield on Sunday.
The incident led England manager Gareth Southgate to drop Sterling from the squad of UEFA Euro 2020 Qualifiers against Montenegro on November 14.
However, Chelsea youngster Hudson-Odoi revealed that he idolized Sterling and reflected the senior pro’s importance in the squad despite him getting dropped.
“Someone like Raheem is like an idol to me. The position he plays, and what he’s doing for club and country, is an amazing thing, which I will try to replicate myself,” Hudson-Odoi was quoted as saying by Reuters.
Though the City player has apologised and with Gomes, too, admitting that both have moved on, Sterling’s rough gesture has come under severe criticsm.
However, Hudson-Odoi gave an insight of Sterling’s character and said, “It is an amazing feeling to have someone like him doing what he’s doing and being around you every time. I want to keep learning off what he does. He is a nice person to be around, very positive.”
The 19-year-old added that Sterling has always been nice to everyone, especially the young players, and stressed that his welcoming attitude had helped him.
“For someone like him, he’s a big leader in the team because he’s a very top player, he’s in club and country playing every game, working really hard, scoring a lot of goals,” he said.