A verbal agreement, and a player already cleared to fly
Fabrizio Romano reports that AC Milan and Nottingham Forest have shaken hands verbally on a loan for Omari Hutchinson, the 22-year-old winger.
Forest will keep paying his wages, according to the same source, and have already released him to travel. Milan are arranging the medical. Nothing has been signed and nothing is official, but the two clubs are working off the same script.
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43.5 million euros, and one season to show for it
The number is what makes this odd. Forest paid Ipswich Town 43.5 million euros for Hutchinson last summer, one of the largest fees the club has ever committed to an attacking player. Twelve months later he is being loaned out.
His debut campaign explains the thinking. Thirty-one Premier League appearances, one goal, five assists. For a 22-year-old adjusting to the division that is a reasonable return. Set against the fee, it is not. Forest have decided a season of regular football somewhere else beats a season of rotation at the City Ground. The Jamaica international, capped twice, gets a reset.
Milan have a Leao-shaped hole to fill
Rafael Leao has gone to Galatasaray. That is the context for everything Milan do between now and the deadline, and it is why a loan for a quick, direct winger with something to prove looks like sensible business rather than a gamble.
Low financial exposure, pace on the flank, a squad that needs both. For Hutchinson, Serie A at 22 is the kind of move that either rebuilds a career or confirms the doubts. Medical first.
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