Ipswich Town set to battle with European competition for Chelsea deal | OneFootball

Omari Hutchinson is reportedly set to hold talks with parent club Chelsea as Ipswich Town look set to battle with teams across Europe for the right to sign him in the summer.

Ipswich's plans should be clear as day now. After securing their promotion to the Premier League, making it back-to-back promotions from the third tier to the top flight, their full focus will be on building a team that is capable of competing with the best, and, most importantly, staying there beyond next season.

They only need to look at their rivals, Norwich City, to see how turbulent life in the Premier League can be. Yes, there is the joy of achieving the goal of getting there, but when you're there, if you are below par, it can be a pretty miserable existence.

To try and combat this, Town need to add to a squad whose core is mostly made up of the players that got them promoted from League One.

They need to add players who have some experience at the highest level, but they can also try and take another course of action to help them with their pursuit of survival next season.

Re-signing loan players from promotion seasons can be vital to a team's success. Not only does it bring continuity, but also there is no worry over how well they will fit in, because the club knows what they are like.

Ipswich had a few very good temporary signings in the 2023/24 campaign, one of which being Hutchinson. The winger, who arrived at Portman Road from Chelsea in the summer, is someone that Town will want back next season, but that job will be easier said than done.

Ipswich to face competition for Omari Hutchinson

According to transfer expert Fabrizio Romano, there is a concrete possibility that the recently crowned Ipswich Young Player of the Year could end up going out on loan again next season, but it might not be with the Tractor Boys.

Town are hoping to have him back for the 2024/25 campaign, but the Jamaican is said to have caught the attention of other Premier League clubs, as well as teams from the Bundesliga and the Eredivisie, as per Romano.

Omari Hutchinson could be the difference maker for Ipswich next season

Hutchinson scored 11 goals and provided five assists last season for the Tractor Boys in the Championship.

But he brings more than just stats. He's a player that can spark a game into life from nothing; someone that can produce moments of magic when they aren't expected.

Players of that calibre are hard to come by for teams who will be in Town's position - at the lower end of the league - that is why loans are so important for these teams.

Even though Ipswich have wealthy owners behind them, they probably won't do what Nottingham Forest did and bring in a whole new squad to try and compete.

The more likely route that they would take would be to add top-level quality to areas of the pitch that they don't already it.

While Town already have Wes Burns and Nathan Broadhead, Hutchinson provides something different as a winger - that x-factor and explosiveness that should work well in the Premier League.

Signing him could be the difference between making it and not for Kieran McKenna and his team.