Chelsea loanee Omari Hutchinson hopes he will return to Ipswich Town next season after helping the club end their 22-year exile from the Premier League. Hutchinson found the net as Ipswich confirmed incredible back-to-back promotions from League One to the top flight on Saturday afternoon.
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Hutchinson added to Wes Burns' opener at Portman Road to defeat Huddersfield Town 2-0 and claim the Championship's second automatic promotion spot.
Ipswich were the underdogs in an enthralling three-way hunt for Premier League football alongside Leicester City and Leeds United.
Kieran McKenna had guided the Tractor Boys to promotion from League One, while Leicester and Leeds were eyeing an immediate return to the Premier League.
But while the former clinched top spot, Hutchinson was a pivotal figure as Ipswich secured a second-place finish, condemning Leeds to the dreaded play-offs.
The 20-year-old joined on loan from Chelsea last summer for regular football, having made his first two senior appearances in the 2022/23 season.
Having started the season as an impact substitute, Hutchinson soon established himself as a regular starter.
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He registered 11 goals and six assists in 50 appearances throughout the campaign, sparking suggestions Mauricio Pochettino could use him at Stamford Bridge beyond the summer.
But amidst the promotion celebrations, the Jamaica international confirmed that he was keen to remain at Ipswich for their Premier League return.
When asked if he'll still be at Ipswich next season, he said: “I hope so. I don’t know.
"I’ll have to see what my agent is saying and what the manager is saying and then go from there. I don’t know, I just want to celebrate at the moment.”
McKenna would surely welcome Hutchinson back to Suffolk, having waxed lyrical about his impact last month.
"He's given everything you'd want from a loan player and more. He's young and has high potential, but he hadn't played any senior football before this season," McKenna told Sky Sports.
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"I really liked his mentality, and we were on the same page as him, his family and his representation about what he needed, not just in terms of minutes but also development.
"He's come into the club with the right application and picked things up really quickly about what it takes to succeed. That has endeared him to the senior players right away, and he's built that as the season has gone on.
"He's hitting a good level but he's still really young. It's not going to be a linear journey from here, but he's got really high potential and a really good mentality towards achieving that potential."
Pochettino will undoubtedly be planning talks with Hutchinson this summer after a positive season for his development and a disappointing one for Chelsea's attack.
