Ipswich Town just about find themselves above the Premier League bottom three at this moment in time, but that could all change on Monday evening if Crystal Palace pick up three points away at Nottingham Forest, resulting in Oliver Glasner’s Eagles potentially leapfrogging the Tractor Boys.
There will need to be major improvements going forward as the magic of being in the top flight begins to wear thin for Ipswich, with back-to-back defeats to West Ham United and Everton unsettling the feel-good mood in Suffolk.
Kieran McKenna will especially want more from Omari Hutchinson, who cost £20m to get in through the door this summer but has offered very little since making the step up to the top division.
Hutchinson's numbers so far this season
Hutchinson’s flat form for the Tractor Boys is a far cry away from his Championship heroics, with the ex-Chelsea man thriving in the league below as an exciting loanee, notching up an impressive ten goals and six assists as automatic promotion was secured.
Now, his displays are passive in contrast as the once wild and energetic attacker looks frightened by the prospect of the Premier League, with just one paltry assist allied up this campaign from nine appearances in all competitions.
Of course, it is still early days and the Ipswich number 20 could suddenly burst into life, but the £20m price tag next to his name is starting to look slightly extortionate.
His showing against Everton last match did see him flirt with being back to his explosive best, with three key passes amassed and two shots registered on Jordan Pickford’s goal, but more will be needed from Hutchinson over the games to come to justify a starting spot week in week out.
Ipswich will be annoyed that they didn’t try to keep a firmer grip on one former youth player now, who could have added to the firepower of Liam Delap nicely if he was still on the books at Portman Road.
Marcelo Flores' time at Ipswich
Marcelo Flores would never go on to make the cut in Suffolk, poached by Arsenal at a very young age away from the Tractor Boys where his story all began.
The 5 foot 7 winger was in and around the youth set-up at Ipswich for three years but was allowed to leave for the Gunners in 2019 on a free transfer, a switch that will irritate those at Portman Road now when viewing what Flores has gone on to do in 2024.
Arsenal U18s
32
10
5
Arsenal U21s
16
5
1
Real Oviedo
15
0
1
Tigres
42
9
2
Flores made a slight impression at the Emirates after arriving on a free transfer, with 15 goals registered playing on youth pitches in North London, but would never go on to leap up to the first team.
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Still, there were outlandish comparisons in 2020 that even stated the Ontario-born attacker modelled his game on the likes of Eden Hazard and Phillippe Coutinho and he could well be the next iteration of those talents, after being included on the esteemed Next Generation list by the Guardian.
He has since made a name for himself playing for Tigres, where he has two goals and one assist next to his name from his last 13 games for the Mexican side.
Those numbers better Hutchinson’s current output for this season, with Ipswich potentially left to ponder whether they could have turned Flores into a first-team star if he didn’t up and move to Arsenal as a promising teenage talent.
Once hailed as “incredible” by Oviedo president Martínez Peláez when out on loan in Spain earlier in his career, Flores will hope he can keep those top performances coming for Tigres.
Back in England, Hutchinson will aim to reignite his own form as Ipswich pray that a first win in the Premier League comes imminently.
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