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Callum Hudson-Odoi earns first England U21 call-up

Callum Hudson-Odoi celebrates scoring for Chelsea against Malmo
Image: Callum Hudson-Odoi attracted several bids from Bayern Munich in January

Callum Hudson-Odoi has been called up to the England U21 squad for the first time ahead of home matches against Poland and Germany.

The Chelsea winger - who has seven caps for the U19s - has broken into the first team at Stamford Bridge this season, scoring four goals in 17 games.

He is joined in the squad by Leicester midfielder Hamza Choudhury, who has received his first call-up since the Toulon Tournament - which England won - last summer.

 during the FA Cup Third Round match between Newport County and Leicester City at Rodney Parade on January 6, 2019 in Newport, United Kingdom.
Image: Hamza Choudhury has nine appearances for Leicester this season

Crystal Palace defender Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Manchester City midfielder Phil Foden, Leicester midfielder James Maddison, and Fulham winger Ryan Sessegnon are all included in the 26-man squad.

Ahead of the friendlies against Poland and Germany, which will serve as preparation for this summer's U21 European Championships, manager Aidy Boothroyd said: "It's an exciting time.

"Getting the boys back together to put in some preparation for the Euros, and obviously two really good games this week against teams who could be our competitors in the summer.

England U21 manager Aidy Boothroyd thinks it might be too soon for the likes of Jadon Sancho and Mason Mount
Image: Aidy Boothroyd will lead England U21s to the European Championships in Italy in the summer

"Both Poland and Germany will give us a really good test. Any team that qualifies for the U21 EURO Finals has to be respected, because it's no mean feat getting there.

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"You can see from the standard of the countries that are heading to Italy in June, they're all top teams, so these will be difficult games."

England will play Poland in Bristol on March 21, before heading to Bournemouth to play Germany five days later.

Joleon Lescott on Sterling
Image: Joleon Lescott will work with the England U21s during the next international break

The squad will meet up on Sunday, where they will be joined by Joleon Lescott, the former England defender who now works as a coach at Man City.

He will work as part of Boothroyd's staff thanks to the elite coach placement programme, a partnership between the FA and the PFA that provides under-represented groups with coaching opportunities within the England set-up.

England U21 squad

Goalkeepers: Freddie Woodman, Angus Gunn, Dean Henderson.

Defenders: Jake Clarke-Salter, Jay Dasilva, Dael Fry, Lloyd Kelly, Jonjoe Kenny, Ezri Konsa, Fikayo Tomori, Kyle Walker-Peters, Aaron Wan-Bissaka.

Midfielders: Harvey Barnes, Hamza Choudhury, Tom Davies, Kieran Dowell, Phil Foden, James Maddison, Ryan Sessegnon.

Forwards: Tammy Abraham, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Demarai Gray, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Ademola Lookman, Reiss Nelson, Dominic Solanke.

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