Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna: ‘Transfer interest in reported Brentford target Omari Hutchinson is natural’

Ipswich Town boss Kieran McKenna has admitted that the interest in Omari Hutchinson is no surprise following reports that Brentford have made multiple offers for the England U21 international.

The Bees are said to have matched the £35m relegation release clause in Hutchinson’s contract before Tuesday’s 5pm deadline, but they failed to offer payment terms which would have triggered it.

However, the west Londoners, who yesterday agreed to sell forward Bryan Mbeumo to Manchester United for £70m, are expected to come back in for the former Chelsea man, with some reports claiming the Blues want £40m for his services.

Hutchinson has not been with the Town squad in Austria as he was given additional time off, having been with England’s victorious Under-21s squad at the European Championship in Slovakia.

Quizzed on the situation following Town’s 4-1 friendly victory over Blau-Weiß Linz, McKenna said: “Omari’s still on his holiday, a well-earned break from the summer.

“There’s obviously been interested parties in Omari, which is natural with how he’s done but he’s still an Ipswich Town player.

“My full focus really has been on the group that’s here and hopefully we’ll catch up with Omari this week.”

The Blues paid Chelsea an initial £20m for Hutchinson last summer, with the £2.5 million top-up clauses having been triggered over the last year. The Londoners are understood to be due a percentage of the fee – 25 per cent of profit was reported at time of last year’s move – Town would receive.