Town boss Kieran McKenna says Brentford target Omari Hutchinson “didn’t feel mentally in the right place” to travel with the squad for this evening’s friendly against Auxerre in France.

Yesterday, it was reported that the Bees are set to come back in with a £37.5 million offer for the 21-year-old, having previously had bids, the highest £35 million, turned down by the Blues.

Hutchinson was a notable absentee from the squad which beat Ligue 1 Auxerre 3-0 this evening.

“Omari, with the speculation around his future at the moment, he didn’t feel mentally in the right place to come for the game,” McKenna said when asked about Hutchinson after the match.

“It’s a challenging situation for everyone. He’s a player that we love and we support and we have empathy with the year that he’s been through and this important moment in his career.

“But also the career have the right for their position as well. We’ll keep working and communicating on that situation as well and hopefully it’ll be the best resolution for the club and for the player.”

Photo: Matchday Images

Juggsy added 21:30 - Aug 2 Bet he’s mentally in the right place to pick up his paycheck though eh? Player power …
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tetchris added 21:31 - Aug 2 Basically he wants to leave so KM fears playing him in case he gets injured so rolls out that load of tosh. The quicker he is sold the better it is for everyone and the money can be used to buy players who do wa t to be here
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Juggsy added 21:33 - Aug 2 At least we can all wave and laugh at him when we pass Brentford on the way down next season. 2 relegations on his resume will look great I’m sure.
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BonchosAura added 21:34 - Aug 2 This is standard fare but we really don't have to sell if we don't want to. Omari will have been told by his agent thats the way he gets the move. I want an angry Hutchinson to tear up the Championship or at least 40m. The ball is in our court and he'll play once the season starts/window closes. I think we have to play our cards and reward players after succeeding with us IN THE PREM. Force him to stay unless they pay up. He'll get over it. As fans we have to be understanding of his wish to play at the highest level. He will comfortably fit in as a squad player at most of the lower/mid table teams that have more going for them than we had last season, so its understandable that he wants to get there.

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barrystedmunds added 21:41 - Aug 2 I get the bit of wanting to play at the very highest level after tasting it last season but a couple of things strike me about this situation. Brentford? but if they’re the only interested parties then there you go but like many on here I suspect they may be due a difficult season. And in my opinion, he didn’t have a particularly great season last year (who did?) so if Brentford are offering 40 mill, let’s take it.

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runningout added 21:52 - Aug 2 fingers crossed when Omari moves on he doesn’t turn into weak willed man
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knitfc78 added 21:52 - Aug 2 Looks like Omari is on his way
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SpiritOfJohn added 22:04 - Aug 2 If we sell Omari we should insert a buy back clause so that we get first refusal when Brentford are relegated.
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terryf added 22:12 - Aug 2 A sad situation where a player turns round and says he's not in the right frame of mind. Wonder how he would respond if the Club turn round and say if that's the case we are not in the right frame of mind to pay your wages for holding back your services.Of course that won't happen! Hold out for £40 mill, say thankyou and wave goodbye. Everything nowadays is loaded in favour of the player and their Agent. I love my Team but football in general stinks!!

8

dirtydingusmagee added 22:28 - Aug 2 Well all going well and to plan prior to season start NOT Hope we get some good news soon ..
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blues1 added 23:18 - Aug 2 ArnieM. Agree with whatcursaying regards Downes. Difference there tho was, it was not surprising he wasnt in the right headspace, the way he'd been treated by Paul Cook.
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blues1 added 23:26 - Aug 2 Robsonwark. As usual you dont read what i said correctly. And then feel the need to use abusive language. Im quite aware of why hes not in the right frame of mind. The point I was making, is simply, theres a difference between refusing to play, and not being in the right frame of mind to play. In which case it was better that he didnt.
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nevergoblue added 23:33 - Aug 2 I'm not sure why everyone is so angry about this. Omari joined us, gave us a couple of years work, where he worked hard. He has now helped win the Euros, so his profile is sky high, he needs to be in the Prem. If we can get £40m for him, that's good business. Imagine if he stays with us and we don't go up, he is then just another decent Championship player.
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churchmans added 00:09 - Aug 3 Omari if reading this! Brentford are f**** 2bob club!! Lost players lost frank! You could become a club legend! Its only 1 season until we are back up,if it was real madrid i would get it! But BRENTFORD!!! who tbe hell is advising you! As for you Nevergoblue!! Maybe you aint been around for a while,WE DONT NEED TO SELL
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armchaircritic59 added 00:10 - Aug 3 I agree with a poster on page one of the article. It's probably not a good idea for any prospective buyer or anyone else for that matter to judge him one way or another on the Euro's. The point he made is that generally he came up against relatively lightweight opponents ( literally I mean ), and many were not of Premier League class or similar abroad, and yes there were a few exceptions to that rule. He'd be better judged on last seasons performances. He's still a young guy who's no doubt got an agent and god knows who else twittering away in his ear. I hope AY has been able to give him some good advice whilst he was training with him. I'm not totally sure myself whether I agree with the not mentally fit to play stance. But let's cut him a bit of slack. Whatever will be, will be. Both Omari and ITFC will survive.

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OliveR16 added 00:11 - Aug 3 If I were Brentford I'd be concerned about the maturity and resilience of a player described in this way by KM. Say it quietly - he's not worth what they're offering (yet). Get the money and run IMO.
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Cageyblue added 01:01 - Aug 3 Not mentally in the right place !! What a big girl’s blouse !! I really hope Delap does well, but after this tantrum hope Hutchinson joins Brentford and gets relegated !
0

PhuketPete added 01:34 - Aug 3 Omari not playing (but still getting paid despite a multi year contract that says he’s our player) because his head isn’t in the right place is sadly symptomatic of the wider problem whereby UK pays 1.7m working age people to stay at home because (some of them) have a funny elbow, zits, had a bad haircut or feel anxious.
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PhuketPete added 01:44 - Aug 3 Oh and as for contracts. Not worth the paper they’re written on. Most seem to exist merely as a ruse to refer taxes even after a player has jumped ship in mid contract. A cynic would say we shouldn’t be surprised because we saw this twice before with KMc.
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darkhorse28 added 01:52 - Aug 3 McKenna needs to stop making excuses, way too soft. He wants to leave. We need the sale, stop procrastinating like last summer and get it done. We are in serious danger of repeating all last seasons mistakes. We’ll be bedding in a new group in October, we’ve learnt precisely nothing, same people, same mistakes.
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Flight_of_Shefki added 06:20 - Aug 3 I try to be as diplomatic as possible, but this isn't acceptable really - unless there are dire things going on in his life that truly affect his ability to earn his pay packet. For me, this means he's off. If he's mentally struggling - or at least if that's genuine - there has to be a more solid reason than 'all this chatter about my career' blah blah. Surely, as a footballer - you are in control here.

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Broadbent23 added 06:25 - Aug 3 Don't blame Omari. Blame the greedy Premier league who suck the life blood out of teams below them trying to improve football for their fans. Brentford were a little team once but now have turned into LOADS OF MONEY symbol of what's wrong with British football.
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tractorboybig added 06:38 - Aug 3 sell him
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BlueandTruesince82 added 06:47 - Aug 3 I mean its Brentford, I know theyre in the Prem but its not Liverpool knocking
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bluesissy added 06:50 - Aug 3 You are paid and under contract to ipswich...unprofessional...
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