West Bromwich Albion may have kept hold of manager Carlos Corberan, despite reported interest from Leeds United, but the Spaniard is surely concerned about his side's preparations for the new Championship season.
Who are West Brom signing?
West Brom find themselves in a tricky situation as their Premier League parachute payments have come to an end, meaning they are having to spend accordingly – or not at all.
Captain Dara O'Shea was sold to Burnley for £7m last month, while Jake Livermore, Tom Rogic and the highly rated Rico Richards all departed The Hawthorns once their contracts expired at the end of last season.
Worryingly for Albion supporters, there seems to be very little activity in terms of players coming in.
Indeed, Corberan has already accepted that the Baggies will be relying on any leftover free agents and loan signings between now and September 1st.
"You will look in one market or another, but it doesn't mean you can't [find] good players. You can [find] players with different resources," Corberan is quoted as saying by the Birmingham Mail. "The loan market in England is very useful, very, very useful. There are very, very talented players."
One of those who could be on Corberan's list of possible targets is Chelsea youngster Omari Hutchinson, who has been taking part in the early stages of pre-season training but is expected to be loaned out, according to football.london.
The teenager came close to joining the Hawthorns in January, as per Birmingham Mail reporter Joseph Chapman, but the move never materialised before the deadline. Now, with him seemingly back on the market, he's a player that the Baggies boss would surely love to return for, given his plea and their off-field financial situation.
Who is Chelsea's Omari Hutchinson?
After departing Chelsea's youth set-up in 2012, Hutchinson spent the next decade with Charlton Athletic and Arsenal, before making the move back across London to Stamford Bridge 12 months ago.
The 19-year-old was handed his senior debut – not just for Chelsea but for any side – in January when coming on as a second-half substitute in the Blues' 1-0 Premier League loss to Manchester City, before featuring against the same opponents a few days later in a heavy FA Cup loss.
Hutchinson was rewarded for his performances in Premier League 2 and also on his rare outings for Chelsea in last summer's pre-season friendlies, when earning praise from then boss Graham Potter for being "dangerous" with his attacking display.
The versatile midfielder may have just 49 minutes of senior action to his name, but he showed exactly what he is capable of at U21 level last season when scoring seven goals and assisting eight in 21 Premier League 2 Division 1 games.
With 15 direct goal involvements, only Manchester City trio Oscar Bobb (19), Adedire Mebude (29) and Carlos Borges (33) performed better in the league than Hutchinson, who is reported to be on wages of just £14k-per-week.
There is of course a big leap between PL2 and the Championship, but to put Hutchinson's 0.75 goals or assists per 90 minutes – as per FBref – into some perspective, the now-departed Rogic was West Brom's best performer last season with 0.61.
If it is indeed loan signings Corberan is going to rely on in his bid to at least make West Brom competitive next season, then Hutchinson could be the perfect fit and that's why the Midlands outfit should relaunch a move for his temporary signature in the coming weeks, if not days.
