Town boss Kieran McKenna says forward Omari Hutchinson felt that he “couldn’t contribute” for the Blues in their Carabao Cup tie at Bromley with the 21-year-old having made his desire to return to the Premier League clear.

Both Brentford and Nottingham Forest have made £35 million offers for the England U21 international which have been rebuffed. The Blues are believed to be targeting £40 million for the ex-Chelsea man.

Hutchinson suffered a throat infection last week which meant he wasn’t involved at Birmingham on Friday, but McKenna confirmed his absence today wasn’t related to the illness, although Nathan Broadhead, who is being targeted by Wrexham, did report in unwell.

“No, he trained on Monday OK and then didn’t feel that he could contribute today with the situation as it is,” McKenna said of Hutchinson.

“That was his decision and Nathan reported sick this morning, which on the day of the game is not ideal.”

Asked whether he is disappointed in Hutchinson, McKenna said: “He’s made [clear] his desire to continue to play Premier League football if the opportunity is there.

“I think it’s known how much care we have for Omari and empathy we have with him, he’s a young player, 21, it’s not an easy situation to handle.

“There are different ways to handle the situation but I think that seems to be more prevalent in modern football and players get advice from different directions and he’s a very, very young player.

“We have empathy with him, we’ll try and guide him in the right way in terms of how to deal with situations, but, of course, as long as he’s at the football club, we want him able to contribute and help the team on the pitch.”

McKenna says the situation hasn’t changed regarding the offers for the one-time Arsenal youngster.

“There hasn’t been anything that has changed the club’s position yet,” he added. “It’s known that Omari had a buyout clause in his contract, which was active for a few months.

“There was no serious or appropriate offers in that time, so once that position’s closed, then it’s the club’s position to make the decision as they see fit.

“There hasn’t been any sort of interest or offers to change that position so far, so we’ll see what the next few weeks bring.”

McKenna says it’s more complicated than just telling Hutchinson he’s staying as he is in contract until the summer of 2029.

“Situations are never as simple as that and, of course, the club has their position, the player has their position, but it’s never as straightforward and especially when you’re dealing with a young player here,” he continued.

“I don’t think there’s too much more to say on it, we have our position as a club. My position I’ve communicated with Omari around the situation and, of course, he’s communicated his and we’ll see what the next few weeks bring.”

Ideally McKenna says he’d love to have Hutchinson at the club for the season ahead: “I think that’s clear and obvious.”

Photo: Matchday Images

blues1 added 08:16 - Aug 13 Jas0999 what a load of rubbish. How is it weak management by Mckenna? What's he supposed to do? Force him into playing? And what then? He doesnt even try on the pitch? Upsetting the rest of the squad? Mckennas doing the only thing he can do, in this situation. While not in my way condoning hutchinsons behaviour, I expect hes acting on advice from his agent. So think he should get a little leeway with the fans. Still young and inexperienced in dealing with this kind of situation. A situation that clearly needs to be dealt with, one way or another, very soon tho. Can't let this go on for much longer. If it means accepting the original valuation, so be it. If hes gonna go, we need to get it done asap

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Chrisd added 08:28 - Aug 13 Time to move him on. He’s done terrifically for us, but his head’s been turned.
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itfc2024 added 08:32 - Aug 13 sorry Hutchinson is a sulky baby who thinks he's better than he is we are paying him good wages and he should show respect to the club until such a deal is done i don't agree with he's young and is inexperienced he's know what he's doing he's pushing for a deal away and doing that refusing to play for us look at broadhead he's had a bid for him and he's not thrown his toys out the pram he's got on with everything the club has asked and played when asked thats the difference he shows respect to the club fans and mckenna if Hutchinson goes and return to Portman road against us I won't be one to applauded him id boo him he can't us our club respect why should we show him it

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IvorFeeling added 08:57 - Aug 13 Insiders know the Omari has informed the club he won’t be playing again and wants a PL move. Broadhead also wants out, & the place is not a rosy camp at the mo, with Lee Grant gone this is the biggest test of KMcK’s tenure at PR
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Bert added 09:12 - Aug 13 Hutchinson has let himself down and the club. 21 is not that young. My hunch is that he is being advised from outside and making the wrong decisions on all fronts. The club is right to hold out for a decent return on a player that we have nurtured. I feel sorry for KMcK who must feel very let down.
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BlueySwede added 09:23 - Aug 13 While I understand that a football career is short, I think many of today's players are thinking far too short-term. Get in there, fight for the team while you're under contract, and if all goes as we all hope, you'll be playing Premier League football again next season - aged 22.
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dubblue added 09:52 - Aug 13 The problem is if we let Omari go without getting the fee we deem appropriate what do we do the next time? Against that I can’t see him playing for us anymore, can you imagine the reception he would get next time he lines out at PR?? so let’s rip the plaster off Maybe we should take the €35m and whatever extras we can get and strengthen the squad question marks are beginning to emerge about some of our first 11 - Clarke, Ogbene and Philogene who has picked up a lot of injuries. As for OH he will either linger as sub peeling out 10/15 min sub appearances or will join Brentford and end up back in the championship, good riddance!

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Tractorboy58 added 09:55 - Aug 13 If he is not sold this window I can see a really messy dragged out situation - his value will steadily drop and once you lose the fans support then a bad atmosphere is created - now more than ever he needs to be got rid of
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barrystedmunds added 09:55 - Aug 13 Our very own Isak! Agents/ friends/ associates whispering in their ears that they’re better than what they really are! OK, I’ll admit the Newcastle lad was a little special last season but Hutchinson hardly set the league alight didn’t. The sooner his gone, st our valuation, the better for all concerned I feel.
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boysof1981 added 09:57 - Aug 13 Here’s hoping he snaps his Achilles when he wears the Brentford/Forest shirt for the first time. Tosser
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Murphys_Law added 10:00 - Aug 13 This is one for Ashton not KMc to deal with, he needs to concentrate on team matters. If he doesn’t want to play let him train with the under21’s. If we don’t get the money that Ashton deems is fair to our club then let’s see how he gets on not being involved with the 1st team squad after the window closes. I have total confidence that Ashton won’t be pushed around and will ultimately get the right deal for our club, otherwise he can sit on the bench for the reserves.

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oldbri added 10:04 - Aug 13 What are the options if this plonker refuses to play. Can we make him stand in the corner.
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petersongoal added 10:05 - Aug 13 What a rat. Make him train on his own and let him rot.
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Marinersnose added 10:24 - Aug 13 Arsenal have an excellent record for producing and developing young academy players. They obviously noticed this negative character trait in Omari that he thinks he’s better than what he actually is. I’d love him to stay as he’s still on3 of our best players but with this type of behaviour it is clear that he thinks he’s bigger and better than the club. Unfortunately not as this club has had some unbelievable players over the years. I maybe doing him a disservice as this could be agent lead or club owners wanting to protect an asset.

1

DavoIPB added 10:26 - Aug 13 It's a stupid trend from most top footballers now. Look at what's going on in the prem. If I did this at work it would go to a tribunal, he signed a contract. People also giving broadhead leeway, he has literally pulled a sicky and probably about to do the same as hutchinson. Absolutely pathetic.
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ipswichone added 10:31 - Aug 13 Read between the lines!omari Hutchinson,doesn't want to play for Ipswich.Sell him off,and get all thoughts bad vibes out of the dressing room.then we might start being a united front,and play to our true potential
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billlm added 10:33 - Aug 13 Mckenna your smothering this week squad with to much nicey nicey I know what ferguson and clough would have done, Grow up and grow a pair before you ruin three years of hard work,your loosing your credit here your the manager manage,
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Onenil added 10:47 - Aug 13 I rarely contact these pages with my views. Over the past 60 years I have experienced so many TOWN stories and rumours, this current Omari situation is ridulous !. When Bobby Robson arrived as the sacked manager of Fulham most of us wondered just what the club's ambitions were, we soon found out, after an argument in the dressing room BR sacked the then club captain Billy Baxter, we all know what followed on from there !. Omari obviously has a team of so called advisors twisting his head this way and that. I wonder how many offers the club received for players like Mills, Mariner, Wymark, Beatie, Hunter etc, etc when we played and beat some of the best teams in the world year after year. How many can remember that evening when we beat the mighty Barcelona 3-0, with Cruyff ?. I bet the managers phone was red hot over the next few days with offers for players ( they did not have Buy Out clauses in their contract in those days of course, where did they come from I wonder ?. ). Mick Mills once said that the players were so keen to play for this club that they hid all sorts of minor knocks and injuries from the manager in case they were dropped from the team. Oh for that mind set now !.

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Tractorog added 10:48 - Aug 13 He needs to get over himself.
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TimmyH added 11:07 - Aug 13 Soon as we see the back of him the better so we can all move on and get a tidy fee for him!
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Lightningboy added 11:11 - Aug 13 Maybe we shouldn't contribute his enormous wage packet whilst he feels he can't contribute to kicking a ball about for a living. Too many spoilt brats in the game these days...that & this brand of boring sideways/backwards/possession obsessed football is becoming a massive turn off.
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Lightningboy added 11:21 - Aug 13 I'd now snap another club's hand off if they still want to offer £35m for him. Shame Broadhead is probably off,though I can't say I blame him - he's wasted sitting on the bench behind Jack Clarke,still don't see anything to him,spends most of the game half asleep,then when he does dribble around 2 or 3 players he forgets to take the actual ball with him. Only 2 games in but things look a bit of a mess tbh.

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blueboy1981 added 11:26 - Aug 13 This Club is fast becoming a Laughing Stock - the Tail is obviously wagging the Dog here now !!
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warfarinman69 added 11:30 - Aug 13 I have no empathy for him whatsoever. Unbelievable how he can refuse to play. Come on Mckenna, I'm disappointed. Should have picked him anyway and if he doesn't try, pulled him off before half time and humiliate him. He doesn't deserve to be at the club I have supported for nearly 50 years. And the fans (partly at least) pay his wages by working hard to afford a season ticket. Get rid of him, but try to keep Broadhead. While Hutchinson is still at the club we will not get the team spirit we desperately need to get our mojo back

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blueboy1981 added 11:31 - Aug 13 Maybe it’s time Fans felt they couldn’t contribute with their Hard Earned Money and Support ?? This is Farcical now !
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