Nottingham Forest have reportedly submitted a bid for Ipswich Town’s Omari Hutchinson following long-standing interest from Brentford.
The Tractor Boys have spent the last few weeks trying to keep hold of the England U21 international following Brentford’s opening bid of £35m in July but his future is far from certain.
Brentford’s initial bid met Hutchinson’s release clause value, but as the money was in instalments and not up front, Ipswich were able to reject the deal. That clause has now expired, and Brentford are said to be preparing a bid of £37.5m.
Meanwhile, Forest have now joined the race with David Ornstein reporting a £35m bid was made and rejected. Considering Ipswich have already rejected Brentford’s offer for the same amount, it was no surprise that they rejected Forest’s valuation of the player. The Suffolk side bought Hutchinson for £22.5m last summer after a year on loan at Portman Road.
He played a big part in Ipswich’s promotion to the Premier League but struggled in the top flight, contributing just five goals in 31 matches.
After an extended holiday due to his appearance in England’s successful U21 Euros campaign, Hutchinson returned to Ipswich and featured in their pre-season friendly against Charlton last week.
However, he missed their final pre-season game against Auxerre on the weekend ahead of their opening Championship match away at Birmingham City on Friday night.
Manager Kieran McKenna said on Wednesday that there was no “update” on Hutchinson’s situation and that he expected the player to be ready for the season ahead.
“Omari was training on Monday and trained well,” the 39-year-old manager said.
“And then, unfortunately, he’s had a medical issue the last two days, so hasn’t been with the group. Hopefully, if there’s a good recovery from that, he’ll be with us on Friday night.
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“He’s had interest from different clubs, but there’s nothing really to update. The club has real goals this season and everyone who’s an Ipswich player at the moment has to be fully ready to contribute to those and be ready to help us have a successful year.”
Ipswich are also reportedly facing a battle to keep hold of left-back Leif Davis, with Daily Telegraph journalist Mike McGrath suggesting the club ‘have turned down bids’ for the 25-year-old.
Davis was a crucial part of Ipswich’s return to the top flight in 2024, providing 21 assists to top the charts and set a record for a defender.
Ipswich begin their Championship season on Friday night with a match away at Birmingham. Tom Brady’s Blues are predicted to be one of the teams competing at the top end of the table this season, while Ipswich are many people’s favourites to win the league and return straight back to the Premier League.
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