The Blues are reported to be ready to make an official offer to Chelsea for last season’s loan star Omari Hutchinson.

According to football.london, the 20-year-old, who is currently training individually overseas ahead of pre-season training, is yet to make a decision on his future but with a permanent move away from Stamford Bridge an option.

Town have made no secret of their desire to bring the Jamaica international back to Portman Road after his major contribution towards the Blues’ promotion to the Premier League last season and are said to be the current frontrunners.

It’s claimed a Town bid is now expected with Chelsea understood to want a fee of around £30 million with his former club Arsenal due a chunk of the figure they ultimately receive via a sell-on clause.

The Blues are unlikely to be looking at paying that sort of sum for any individual player this summer and are believed to be ready to offer around £20 million initially.

VfB Stuttgart and Ajax have previously been linked and are reportedly still keen, although their interest believed to have cooled latterly.

Photo: Matchday Images

wkj added 14:21 - Jun 24 Exciting, but the price has to be right.
18

CaptainAhab added 14:22 - Jun 24 Get it done!
2

boroughblue added 14:22 - Jun 24 When this came through as a twitter notification on my watch a second ago I read it as ‘offer accepted’ and nearly screamed in the middle of work. Come on Ashton, get that cooking oil!
9

BaddowBlue1 added 14:25 - Jun 24 Could be down to Hutch to drive the transfer if he wants to come. Hirst did that with Leicester last season so fingers crossed that Mr Ashton gets it done.
11

RyanF182 added 14:28 - Jun 24 I know this isn’t how the world of football works, especially with a club like Chelsea, but you’d think with us helping them with the development of Chalobah and now Omari, taking Omari up to this fairly unreasonable asking price, they’d be a little nicer to us with the valuation
3

itfcjoe added 14:32 - Jun 24 Surely will end up getting done for £15m or so with add ons - no one else is going to pay that
2

Steve_ITFC_Sweden added 14:32 - Jun 24 In your dreams, I'm afraid, Ryan. Hope we do get him nonetheless.
0

Suffolkboy added 14:36 - Jun 24 It’s the usual ‘ wait and see ‘ game : there’s every reason to simply put our trust in MA and the team ,who’ve shown us great skills and judgement to date ! OH would be an exciting start to the team re- build and is an exciting talent maturing well under the watchful eyes of KM and Co. COYB
5

Europablue added 14:36 - Jun 24 boroughblue I read the headline the same way and had to double check.
-1

Len_Brennan added 14:40 - Jun 24 Great player who can clearly perform at the next level, great attitude, a guy who knows the team & what the manager wants from him, so it makes absolute sense to try & bring him back on a full contract. I wouldn't expect him to be our first signing though, given that he will ultimately cost at least £20m if he is to come, as we are trying to also bring in the likes of Sheaf, Rodon, Greaves etc. for fees of hopefully no more than half that amount. Whatever is paid for Hutchinson, or whichever key signing arrives first on a fee, will have an impact on subsequent negotiations. A signing from abroad may be different, but in the market of coveted top performers from the Championship last season, our first purchase will be analysed carefully.

0

Linkboy13 added 15:01 - Jun 24 Hutchinson is a great talent and will get even better under McKenna but 30million or even 20million is to much for a player who hasn't played in the Premier league.
6

victorysquad added 15:05 - Jun 24 Genuinely think it is the right move for Omari. He is loved here, and we will have patience with him as he develops. Two years Premier League experience being coached under KM and he will be ready for Champions League football.
5

victorysquad added 15:05 - Jun 24 We need another song for him though!
1

Karlosfandangal added 15:09 - Jun 24 Wow how Prem teams push the price up for players £30 million is far too much. Does that mean Freddie is now worth £5 million or so. Would be nice
1

rdibble added 15:09 - Jun 24 Booooooommmmmm
0

PortmanTerrorist added 15:21 - Jun 24 Omari is a season, in which we stay up, away from being an ITFC legend (see Reuser). He can also play football somewhere he knows he will love, amongst people who he already knows and loves playing with, in a system devised by a manager to his strengths, and supporters that love him already. How many players ever get that? Yes, Chelsea are a 'bigger' team these days, but there is a time and a place (see McKenna) and right now we would be perfect for each other. HOWEVER, we have a limited budget and so with all that said, it would have to be a 'no' at £30m; we cannot be made financially responsible for Chelsea's FFP misdemeanours and believe we are too astute these days to fall into that trap.

9

ArnieM added 15:21 - Jun 24 OMG, This is OUR Ipswich Town we’re talking about here isn’t it guys? ….. how times have changed eh! I just hope we’re not going two cook ourselves financially like so many other clubs promoted to the PL have done before us.
6

ThatMuhrenCross added 15:28 - Jun 24 I'm sorry but anything up to £30m we simply have to pay. He's 20-years-old. Even if he has a poor season, he still retains that value. If he has a good season, his value doubles or potentially even triples. Best case scenario, he does really well and gets us a second year in the Premier League worth another £150m to us. Worst case scenario, we go down, sell him and recoup our money.

1

Flight_of_Shefki added 15:35 - Jun 24 As much as I like and rate the lad, he's not with £30mil. I'm sorry.
1

Flight_of_Shefki added 15:36 - Jun 24 (And I think that PortmanTerrorist is bang on above. Fully agreed).
0

Broadbent23 added 15:52 - Jun 24 Sorry not worth £30m yet. We cannot be held to ransom by financially inept football clubs who cannot run a team well. Come on the football authorities let's get a grip of football monopoly.
3

rodney76 added 15:53 - Jun 24 1. He has ho PL experience. 2.Price too high, even if he had 3. He will follow the biggest wage packet. Let's see if we can n first.
1

Aero added 15:56 - Jun 24 £30 million for a player with next to no Premier league experience? He obviously excelled for half a season in the Championship, but that sounds way over his actual valuation.
4

churchmans added 16:20 - Jun 24 I would desperately love to see him back but 30mill is one hell of hit plus wages,agent fees especially with the psr rules and needing money for another 3 or 4 new incomings! But I don't know the full ins and outs of our finances and where that will pit us with the psr rules but I'm sure Ashton and his does so although not sure about the 30mill I trust the processes and want omari back

0

Fat_Boy_Tim added 16:20 - Jun 24 30m with a 5 year contract is only 6m out of out P&S (ffp) calculation per year plus another 2-3m per year on his wages. Pick up that free defender from West Ham (another 2-3m on wages) and I’d call that good business this week!
2

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