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

tetchris added 11:32 - Aug 13 I assume that we have fined him two weeks wages?
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BlueArmy999 added 11:36 - Aug 13 Sick of hearing about this now. Let him go, train with the u21s. We don’t need players refusing to play and creating a toxic environment for the players who do wanna play for us. No loyalty in football anymore, the manager and club who gave him a shot in men’s football and helped him develop as a player - and he wants gone. If we get back to the prem he’s a nailed on starter - but brentford made his head turn. Be careful what you wish for

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runaround added 11:41 - Aug 13 For McKenna to announce this publicly is a big deal. Makes me think that he’s had enough of Omari refusing to play and has decided to out him. Fans will turn against the player now and I suspect the rest of the squad will not be happy with Omari. His time here is over and the sooner he’s gone the better. I think it’s shameful how he is acting and even at a young age he knows this is not the way to behave showing disrespect to his teammates, fans and employers who pay him a kings ransom

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Pilgrimblue added 11:41 - Aug 13 He’s pathetic but guess what we’re still paying him! His agent not doing good job either as any buyer will be aware of bad attitude. I’d delay sale just to see if he changes his attitude.
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TariccoTuesdays added 11:54 - Aug 13 I have no problem with Hutchinson’s position right now. The speculation would be horrible. 21-years-old off the back of a u21 Euros win in a World Cup year. Not saying he’ll make the squad but momentum is behind him and likely to get minutes in a Brentford or Forest team. It’s an extremely short career with a lot of uncertainties with injuries, form etc. There’s no shade in wanting to take that opportunity when it presents itself. From Ipswich’s perspective, the market is dictating that Hutchinson is worth £40M at least. Saints asking for £50M each for Dibling and Fernandes is driving the market right now, rightly or wrongly. All of this is to say that yes, this is a difficult situation for everyone. Omari’s frustration is not shade on us. If we don’t sell him it won’t be for lack of trying to do right by the player - it’ll be Marinakis and co. not coming to the table with anything remotely resembling a serious offer. The release clause was our way of doing right by the player. If those teams were that interested they would have pulled the trigger already. I think he will leave. We’re not the type of club to hold players back. But as it stands, there’s no way we can sell him.

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darkhorse28 added 12:02 - Aug 13 I think from a ‘leader’ who spoke to Palave. Brighton, Man Utd and Chelsea.., and who agreed terms with Brighton, and then stayed for a Champions League level contract, the hypocrasu is really poor. You can’t elect others to behave differently to you .., and McKenna didn’t down tools, but that was a period where we did some really poor planning and recruitment, so being so distracted clearly wasn’t exactly committing to the group. I don’t think the group have had the same conviction in our leaders since, it’s looking like Sam, Chappers, Cam etc were far more critical to motivating the group than we thought. That’s fine now, and I’m not sure McKenna has the tools on motivation to deal with the nasty side of getting the best form some individuals. Sam would take a few of these around the back of the training ground, and he’d have a STRAIGHTENER with one or two .., air cleared, and move forward collectively. There’s no way this group have that, they drift, they’re comfortable, and KM seems more likely to put an arm around a shoulder. And he’s good at that, but it’s one trick. Great in a self motivated group, that are winning. Woeful when it go’s the other way.., people lose respect quickly in a one dimensional leader. Sam, Mass, Cam, Chappers, they didn’t need a motivational leader…, they needed a really talented coach and good players around them. NOW we DO need a motivational leader. They were and are intrinsically motivated. We need extrinsic motivation for this group…, and it isn’t going to happen.., the skills aren’t there. Warnock and Sam and Dyche, in a room, for 5 minutes with this group…, and they would play. They need an external motivator (too many of them) and that requires a set of skills Ashton and McKenna never saw coming, because they aren’t elite. We owe them both, a lot, but strategically, they are poor.., they don’t understand the psychology of motivating performance teams.

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KnoxvilleBlue82 added 12:25 - Aug 13 My thoughts on this are a little bit all over the place. On one hand he is under contract and should be willing to play and play well to put himself in the "shop window". Secondly, McKenna is not at fault for this. Unfortunately this is a sign of the times. Hutchison's advisors are I his ear and his head is turned. Look at the Isak situation at Newcastle and the Wissa situation at Brentford. Both are refusing to play in preseason to angle a move. Are we to blame Howe and Andrews for the actions of their player too? Mckenna can't make him play, you can't put a player on the field who is not 100% mentally there. It would be like playing a man down. It's not being unprofessional its psychology. I agree with those saying that it's not a great look and sours their view on him. But he is just a kid still (21 is a kid, young adults are not as mentally developed nowadays as they were back in the day) and he wants to play in the premier league (who wouldn't). Ultimately, if we get an offer that is best for the club then we should take it and move on and he would leave with my best wishes. If he stays and plays then he will have my full support because whoever puts on that famous blue shirt deserves our backing.

4

Bert added 12:45 - Aug 13 The opening paragraph from so called Darkhorse is twaddle. There is no comparison with the Hutchinson situation. The only mistake the club has possibly made is making this public. The opposition will love it. Big challenges for our club ahead to restore stability but it will and on Sunday we really must get behind the team.
2

barrystedmunds added 12:50 - Aug 13 So Warnock Sam and Dyke are “elite”? Jury’s out on that one I’m thinking!!!
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SpiritOfJohn added 12:56 - Aug 13 Disappointing all round. Contracts aren't worth the paper they are written on nowadays, and it is only going to get worse. See this recent story: Legal case a 'seismic confrontation' between players and Fifa - https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/cy5prnpy142o
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marinermyhero added 13:57 - Aug 13 Think he's being guided by isak lol
0

Carberry added 14:09 - Aug 13 There's probably an impasse between us and the the buying clubs. They won't meet Ipswich's valuation so the agent tells him not to play in the hope we take a lesser fee to get him out of the door. That is what Ashton is paid the big bucks to sort out.
2

atty added 14:16 - Aug 13 Too much negative vibes around the Club and not enough decisive action. Matters being allowed to drag on and use up valuable time. Get rid of Hutchinson and Broadhead asap. Over £40M and get in those players we need Muric out thankfully. Can think of others ld like out too but is there enough time!
2

blueoutlook added 14:21 - Aug 13 Let’s be honest he really has only shown what he could do for about 6 months,which was the second half of our championship campaign. First six months he wasn’t all that and let’s be honest he didn’t set the PL on fire either did he ? Too big for his boots me thinks.
7

Razor added 14:21 - Aug 13 In my eyes he has not been brilliant for us, over hyped and over praised-----he played his best football last season in the under 21 tournament which means amazingly we should be able to get our money back and some------ASHTON GET A GRIP
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oldelsworthyfan added 14:45 - Aug 13 Is this Downes all over again? Sell him and get someone who genuinely wants to play for us.
3

bluesissy added 15:04 - Aug 13 Looked like the rest of the team felt the same....
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JPR77 added 15:32 - Aug 13 Wish I could call on work and have the day off for not feeling able to contribute. Then again, I’m not an asset worth £40m.
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Cheshire_Blue added 15:33 - Aug 13 This boy clearly over estimates his ability. He was part of a TEAM that was well below the standard expected in the Premier League and still has a lot to learn. Last season confirmed that along with most members of our squad he was not good enough at that level and Mr McK should show some backbone and leave him with the Under 21s until he changes his attitude or an offer acceptable to ITFC comes in.

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gosblue added 15:42 - Aug 13 I think Sunday is the defining moment for these guys. We will have received offers that we can accept or not. If not then they have to be available to play. There mist be an area at Playford Road were they can go and train on their own. Maybe with the rehab players and dont name them in the 25 man squad. Surely their agents have a duty of care and responsibility as well.

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BlueWax added 15:58 - Aug 13 Good job Omari's not a fireman or paramedic eh!
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paris_mitchell_in_oz added 16:45 - Aug 13 Cannot believe the level of disrespect this young man is showing towards those around him who have got him to this point in his career. Reading between the lines, Mckenna sounds disappointed in him. I sure am.
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keighleyblue added 16:56 - Aug 13 Like Delap, OH probably been told by the FA that he cannot be considered for the next World Cup unless he's playing in the PL. So it's not really surprising the decision he's taken is it
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Tedray added 17:05 - Aug 13 The player and the manager are in accord. Player does not want to play and put himself in jeopody from possible injury.Manager does not want him to play in order to protect possible 40 million asset.Problem is to allow this situation to continue without attracting too much angst from the fans.
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CraigEdwards added 17:18 - Aug 13 I don’t feel like paying for my season tickets this month is that ok as that contributes to his wages !!! Just get rid selfish little man
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