Blues forward Omari Hutchinson is on his way to Nottingham Forest to undergo a medical and complete his switch to the Premier League side.
Last night, it was reported that the Tricky Trees were close to agreeing a £37.5 million fee for the 21-year-old with all aspects of the deal now agreed, according to various sources.
Hutchinson is now on his way to the City Ground for a medical with personal terms understood to have already been agreed.
The fee is a new record for the Blues, eclipsing the £30 million Chelsea paid for Liam Delap earlier in the summer, while Hutchinson’s former side Chelsea are reported elsewhere to be due 25 per cent of the profit, the Blues having signed the Redhill-born attacker for £20 million plus add-ons last summer.
It’s also a new record for Forest, beating the £35 million move for Dan Ndoye from Bologna only last month.
The fee is also understood to be the sixth-highest paid for a Championship player behind the £53 million Chelsea paid Southampton for Roméo Lavia in 2023, the £40 million Spurs handed Leicester for James Maddison the same summer and the same figure Brighton splashed out on Georginio Rutter when they signed him from Leeds a year later.
Nathan Ake moved from Bournemouth to Man City for £41 million in 2020 and Harvey Barnes from Leicester to Newcastle in 2023 for £38 million.
Last week, Forest had an offer of £35 million turned down by Town, while Brentford had a number of bids turned down, the highest also £35 million, and Everton and Serie A Inter have also been credited with an interest in the England U21 international.
Hutchinson has appeared certain to leave the Blues this summer having stayed behind when Town travelled to Auxerre for the final pre-season friendly with manager Kieran McKenna revealing on Tuesday that the 21-year-old "didn’t feel that he could contribute” at Bromley, having missed the season opener at Birmingham on Friday due to a throat infection.
Hutchinson is said to be a replacement for Anthony Elanga, who recently joined Newcastle for £55 million, at Forest.