Callum Hudson-Odoi: Maurizio Sarri praises Chelsea star's 'character' in face of racist abuse

Hudson-Odoi was subjected to racist abuse during England's Euro 2020 qualifier in Montenegro last month

Maurizio Sarri believes teenager Callum Hudson-Odoi has the composure to brush off the abuse he has suffered in both Chelsea and England colours.

Hudson-Odoi was subjected to racist abuse during England's Euro 2020 qualifier in Montenegro last month with Danny Rose speaking out about football's growing problem while Juventus' Moise Kean was the target of monkey chants from Cagliari fans earlier this week.

Leonardo Bonucci has been criticised after suggesting his teammate "should take 50 per cent of the blame" but ​Sarri doesn't believe he is a racist, despite making a clear error of judgement.

"Hudson-Odoi is very strong, he has a great character; a very strong boy," Sarri said in his press conference ahead of the Premier League match against West Ham on Monday night.

On Bonucci he added: "I was surprised that this happened in Cagliari. Usually in Cagliari it's a good atmosphere in the stadium.

"I think Leonardo Bonucci made a mistake. But I am sure he probably wanted to say something different.

"Because I am sure Leonardo is not a racist. He made a mistake of course. We can only be an example for people. But it's a very difficult to solve the problem."

Meanwhile, Sarri says Ruben Loftus-Cheek has blossomed into a "complete" midfielder under his stewardship.

The England international has added a defensive element to his game and his manager believes he is now ready to feature more regularly in the first team.

"Now tactically Loftus is a very good midfielder," said Sarri. "At the beginning of the season he was a very offensive midfielder.

"Now he is complete I think. Maybe he's ready to start most of the games, but we need to check every day the condition of his back.

"This morning he had only a recovery session. Because he needs time to recover after a match.

"The problem in this moment is only that probably he's not able to play for 90 minutes."

PA