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.

Photo: Matchday Images

prebbs007 added 12:17 - Aug 15 Virgin 15 appearances more than Townsend same as palmer more than encisco but I guess you don’t include them as part of the squad either. You can’t be doing with the debate because you’re clearly wrong but I doubt you will accept that so jog on and debate 2+2=5 or something else that’s wrong.
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prebbs007 added 12:22 - Aug 15 Oh dear Suffolk n proud. Reverting to insults coz you can’t accept facts. Dear oh dear never mind we both know you are talking utter tosh but it’s ok. My life is great thanks and I’m not so totally blind about what’s going on like you seem to be. And we haven’t signed 6 (that number includes Cajuste) who was already here last season so double counting.
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ImAbeliever added 12:27 - Aug 15 Kerching. Spend it wisely.
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Cheshire_Blue added 12:27 - Aug 15 It is about time some of these young players were protected from Agents taking advantage.
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dirtydingusmagee added 12:29 - Aug 15 is he going with a fisherman friend ..?
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Andy32Cracknell added 12:30 - Aug 15 Hopefully Rak-Sakyi could be lined up as Hutchinson replacement? £37.5 mill for OH and get J/R/S for a more than £10 mil. Be a good bit of business by Town.
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BangaloreBlues added 12:30 - Aug 15 Thank you for some great memories, Omari. That goal against Chelsea, and that cracker against Man Utd stick out for me. A lot of people slagging him off but I will never forget, and will always have massive respect for, all of the players involved in our double promotion. Those two years were absolutely magical. Good luck young man, I hope you excel and get into the England team in the near future. I want to say again - and I have done many times - the amount of people on here making vile comments about current and past players is simply despicable. This used to be a great site with a community that was together as one. Since we got promoted to the Premier League, lots of people have joined who are just full of hate and negativity. I wish it would stop.

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Andy32Cracknell added 12:37 - Aug 15 *** updated *** Hopefully Rak-Sakyi could be lined up as Hutchinson replacement? £37.5 mill for OH and get J/R/S for no more than £10 mil. Be a good bit of business by Town imo. Or, how about a Mr Sarmiento return? You just never know lol
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WhoisJimmyJuan added 12:39 - Aug 15 Well said BangaloreBlues. The tone on here is deteriorating with people seemingly unable to disagree in a friendly and respectable way. Very depressing. This also includes certain individuals who never post first, but always jump on someone who dares venture an opinion. Re your first paragraph, again I agree. But I don't think we can be surprised that OH may have alienated some fans by seemingly refusing to play. We don't know the full story but it's not a good look. But like you say, we should still give thanks for the memories and past efforts.

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Osbourne_One_Nil added 12:45 - Aug 15 Think a lot of people missing the point here , up to £75M in , deep cut in salaries in those leaving and paying only a proportion of the salaries for those coming in on loan. The average retired Arizona Firefighter doesn't give a rats ass about ITFC as long as their pension gets paid . Gamechanger costs , and this is where we start paying...
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jazzback added 12:48 - Aug 15 Look while it has ended badly, we made a good profit on a player that is still young and fulfilled his potential. He could go on to be a great player, more likely just a squad player at forest only showed us in small patches what he can do. Happy with the price if some is reinvested
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Monkey_Blue added 12:53 - Aug 15 Don’t begrudge him the move but it’s a pity he has blown all his goodwill with his behaviour to the point it’s a relief he’s now gone. Right let’s get spending on a replacement and another central midfielder
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Bluearmy_81 added 12:55 - Aug 15 Good luck Omari, love you!! Hope you score against us and Forest beat us next time we play so you have a happy day…
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runningout added 12:58 - Aug 15 some fans should get a grip on themselves
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DifferentGravy added 13:04 - Aug 15 Did well for us in the championship. Was disrespectful to the club by making up puerile excuses not to play (dog ate his homework apparently). Get the money and move on.
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Lion added 13:14 - Aug 15 Wish you all the luck in the world Omari, or as they say in the theatre, break a l...oh, i won't say that...also, good luck to Nathan, most of us knew over a month ago he was off to Wrexham and desperate to be back in his own country but he remained decent, professional and honest to the end. thanks for what you done for us and how you represented our club.
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BlueNomad added 13:16 - Aug 15 So, I come on here to read a somewhat controversial subject and who should I find but prebbs007 who rarely appears; when he does it’s to be totally negative. Then he gets stroppy and tells people not to get personal despite having previous for calling people idiots. What a sad life. As for Omari; it’s a shame it is ending like this. I hope he goes on to achieve great success but unfortunately due to his recent behaviour I won’t look upon him with great affection. Broady showed far more class. Some of us will remember Wrighty going to Arsenal because of his agent (Barnett) and his career never achieved the lift-off everyone expected. History has a habit of repeating itself…….

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oioihardy added 13:17 - Aug 15 Thanks for the transfer fee . Byeeeeee
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oioihardy added 13:17 - Aug 15 Thanks for the transfer fee . Byeeeeee
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virginblue added 13:22 - Aug 15 Mass played 197 minutes. But yeah, count that in your numbers Prebbs. We signed a replacement for Muric in January. We signed Greaves to replace Burgess last summer. Enciso and Phillips weren’t our players. Broadhead played 696 minutes. Axel is a loss but was injured for half the season. Morsy and Delap are irreplaceable. But we have at least signed Akpom and Azor and we tried very hard to sign Hackney. Omari’s departure is not of our making. That’s considerably more context than your “they were in the matchday squad” nonsense Prebbs.

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TimmyH added 13:24 - Aug 15 That will mean he'll miss the Forest game against Brentford dye to travel sickness...that would certainly be the case if I was driving him there. :)
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Phil1969 added 13:26 - Aug 15 Another U21 year old gone. Never mind we have signed two Ashley and Young !
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Phil1969 added 13:26 - Aug 15 Another U21 year old gone. Never mind we have signed two Ashley and Young !
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TimmyH added 13:27 - Aug 15 By the way no thanks to Rak-Sayki! as a replacement for Hutchinson, he like Philogene looks lightweight, we need one or two physical style players!
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foot_kick_ball_goal added 13:35 - Aug 15 Taking a breath and thinking calmly about this, I'm taking this as happy news today. Whilst in disappointed in how omari refused to play, it's a good fee for a player who quite possibly won't live up to the hype long term. The money made available will allow us to recruit a decent replacement. Future employers will also take note of his behaviour, so when he didn't live up to expectations there might not be as much understanding as what might have been had he been more professional at the end. Onwards and upwards eh.

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