When the sell-on kicks in like VTEC, yo
Ipswich Town may have gotten relegated last season, but young Omari Hutchinson will get to continue life in the Premier League after his move to Nottingham Forest was made official today. The 21-year-old winger has signed a five-year contract with Forest, who are paying a club record fee of over £37m to acquire him.
It’s certainly a nice bit of business for not only Ipswich, who paid just £20m to make Hutchinson’s loan permanent last summer, but also for Chelsea thanks to a 25 per cent sell-on clause we negotiated on any future profits (not the whole fee). A quarter of the roughly £17m profit that Ipswich banked works out to around £4.25m. That’s not a lot in absolute terms, but every little bit helps the accounting.
It brings Chelsea’s net profit on the deals involving Hutchinson to over £20m, after Arsenal collected on their 15 per cent sell-on in last summer’s £20m deal (£3m). Ipswich also paid a £1m loan fee two years ago, so as far as wheeling and dealing, Hutchinson, who was signed on a free transfer from Arsenal, is certainly a success story for the bean counters. (Chelsea also negotiated £2.5m in potential add-ons with Ipswich, but those were likely not hit considering they went straight back down to the second division.)
In football terms, Hutchinson is the third ex-Chelsea player set to play a key role for Nuno Espirito Santo (joining Callum Hudson-Odoi and Ola Aina) and adds another excellent piece to an already dangerous side. Forest finished seventh last season but will get to play in the Europa League after FA Cup winners Crystal Palace were bumped down to the UEFA Conference League due to their shared-ownership structure.
Category: General Sports
