Fabrizio Romano’s update on Omari Hutchinson’s future earlier today for Caught Offside had some interesting mentions of less likely moves.
As it stands, it looks like it will be a decision between keeping Hutchinson around the first team next season, or him moving to Stuttgart in Germany. Romano summed up the situation thus:
“Chelsea’s idea is to make profit on Hutchinson, and they’re open to proposals, for example from the Eredivisie, with Ajax and Feyenoord showing an interest, but also in the Bundesliga we have Stuttgart showing an interest and really pushing for him.”
There’s also the potential of a move back to Ipswich too. But it’s the idea of a loan to Holland mentioned there which really caught our attention. Chelsea have clearly been intending to make money off Hutchinson’s sale since the moment they snapped him up on a free – the question for them now is how to maximise that profit, given he’s got two years left on his contract.
Another sideways move – or a route to major profit?
To us, the main appeal of loaning Hutchinson to the Eredivisie would be twofold. Number one, he’d be good enough to be guaranteed games for either Feyenoord or Ajax. You couldn’t say the same if he went to a really top Champions League club – that would be a big step up from the Championship.
Hutchinson would also hope to really dominate in a smaller league, and rack up goals and assists like he did in the Championship. That would boost his value even further, and allow for an even bigger sale next summer.
But is that worth it? Anything can happen in a year. Will they regret turning down £25m now in the hope of getting £35m next summer? It’s very possible. It will be fascinating to see what strategic angle is taken over the next few weeks by those in charge.
