Chelsea have saved themselves millions ahead of the summer transfer window by simply signing Omari Hutchinson from Arsenal. The 20-year-old winger swapped the Emirates Stadium for Stamford Bridge in July 2022 – and he hasn't looked back since.
Hutchinson spent his first season at the Blues in the under-21s before joining Ipswich Town on loan at the start of his second. The Jamaica international, who sees his contract in west London expire in 2025, has featured 36 times for Kieran McKenna's side in the Championship this season, scoring seven goals and providing six assists.
While Hutchinson has only started 12 games, he's still played a crucial role in Ipswich's bid for promotion to the Premier League. The Blues are currently third with eight games left to play, and they'll be determined to secure an automatic qualification spot by May.
Now, Chelsea have been subject to vast moments of criticism for the controversial recruitment policy which was implemented by new owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali in May 2022. In the last two years or so, the Blues have forked out millions on signing some of the most exciting young players in the world.
One of which was Hutchinson, who arrived from Arsenal following the expiration of his contract at Hale End. While the forward has only started a handful of games, statistically, he's been just as impressive as Jack Grealish was for Aston Villa in the Championship during the 2018/19 season.
As pointed out by @chelseayouth on X, formerly known as Twitter, @ChicagoDmitry and @Mclachbot, Hutchinson has actually performed just as well as Brennan Johnson for Nottingham Forest in 2021/22, Jarrod Bowen for Hull City in 2018/19 and Amad Diallo for Sunderland in 2022/23.
Chelsea 'to fork out
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