Some years Chelsea’s loan army does really well, in others they struggle. This year is certainly not a vintage one, but some players are still making an impact.
After signing in the summer of 2022 from Arsenal, Omari Hutchinson spent a year working with our Development Squad before heading off to Ipswich this summer. There he’s had a great platform, with the Tractor Boys outperforming all expectations in the Championship.
According to his interview in the Athletic today, he’s got some pretty lofty ambitions too:
“I started making the list of what I want to achieve when I was 17 and still at Arsenal. At that time, it would have been about just trying to make it into the under-23s and doing well there. Since then, whichever team I am in, it’s about setting a target for goals and assists, how many man of the match awards and so on,” Hutchinson explained of how he motivates himself year on year.
“Now I am on loan at Ipswich from Chelsea, I have set myself new aims; 10 goals and 10 assists for the season, the club’s Young Player of the Season award. But there are things beyond that. Like making it at Chelsea, winning major competitions with them. The ultimate aim is the Champions League. I have a picture of the trophy set as the screen saver on my phone, so I see that silverware every day.”
He has one goal and 3 assists so far – not bad going given it’s taken him a while to break into the side. If Omari and Ipswich keep up their good form for the rest of the season, there’s no reason he can’t at least get very close to those ambitious targets.
Breaking into the Chelsea team and winning the Champions League are more distant, but he can worry about them later…
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