Meets on the way back in central Odessa; regards with respect (7)
I believe the answer is:
esteems
'regards with respect' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this definition defines the answer.
'meets on the way back in central odessa' is the wordplay.
'on the way back' shows that the letters should be reversed in order.
'in' is an insertion indicator.
'central' indicates the central letters.
The centre of 'odessa' is 'es'.
'meets' reversed gives 'steem'.
'steem' placed into 'es' is 'ESTEEMS'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for esteems that I've seen before include "Treasures" , "Values highly" , "Regards highly" , "Prizes or admires" .)