Omari Hutchinson 2.0? Ipswich Town backed to seal 'excellent' Arsenal deal | OneFootball

Ipswich Town have been urged to sign England U21 attacking midfielder Ethan Nwaneri on loan from Arsenal.

Ipswich Town have been promoted back to the Premier League and, naturally, it is expected to be another busy summer of transfer business for The Tractor Boys.

Under the management of Kieran McKenna, Ipswich gained back-to-back promotions from League One and into the Premier League before falling down at the first attempt.

Once again at the first attempt, though, they are returning to England’s top-flight with a very different squad after two summers whereby they have certainly reshaped things at Portman Road.

McKenna remains in charge, though, and while still widely recognised to be an excellent coach, there is a slight bit of pressure on him to show real signs of improvement in the Premier League next season.

That may involve and require further surgery to his squad so, as a result, it is no surprise to see the transfer window rumour mill beginning to go into overdrive.

Ipswich urged to sign Ethan Nwaneri from Arsenal

According to reports, newly-promoted Ipswich hold an interest in Arsenal youngster Ethan Nwaneri, who spent the second-half of this season out on loan in Ligue 1 at Olympique de Marseille.

Nwaneri is a part of England’s travelling party as an extra body to help the squad for their preparations in the United States ahead of FIFA World Cup 2026 and FLW’s Ipswich Fan Pundit Adam Wilkin believes that Town should try to force through a move for the Englishman as quickly as possible.

Adam says: “I have really liked Ethan Nwaneri for a long time.

“I thought he may be one that we looked at when we first went up to the Premier League a couple of years ago but he was then having a good season at Arsenal.

“Arsenal have since then spent a bunch more money and he’s had his playing time limited.

“When he burst onto the scene there, he was clearly a very talented player. He went out on loan in Ligue 1 in the second-half of the season and hasn’t had too much of a chance to do too much there.

“Again, we saw it with Dan Neil with us this season, when you haven’t played a lot of football, getting back in and getting back up to speed is pretty important.

“I think he’d be a really good replacement for the Omari Hutchinson profile, which we were missing last season. He can play in the central ‘10’ or on the right and cut inside on to his left foot.

“I think that would be a really good loan signing for me. Ideally, we’d get him in before the World Cup so then he can have a full pre-season because I think game time is one of the things he’s lacking at the moment.

“On those conditions, an excellent loan signing if we were to pull that off.”

Ethan Nwaneri could reignite things at Ipswich

It would be harsh to suggest that a recently turned 19-year-old who has just received a Premier League winners’ medal is in the middle of his career stalling.

However, after 26 Premier League appearances in the 2024/25 campaign, in comparison to just six this time around, as well as being shipped out on loan to Marseille, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to suggest.

That is especially true because things didn’t go according to plan at Stade Velodrome, albeit there are a few mitigating factors for that.

Roberto De Zerbi left the club shortly after his arrival with Habib Beye coming in to oversee another underwhelming finish to a season for l’OM and the bizarrely put together squad of Marseille didn’t make much sense last summer and certainly wasn’t an ideal place for Nwaneri to flourish in a cohesive setup.

Top-flight minutes are required for an England youth international with a clear abundance of talent – and a move to Ipswich, where he would surely be guaranteed to be a regular starter, would appear to make sense for all parties.