Former Arsenal youngster Omari Hutchinson’s loan move to West Bromwich Albion fell through on deadline day, with varying theories as to why.

Going into the final hours of deadline day, former Arsenal academy winger Omari Hutchinson – now of Chelsea – had a couple of loan options on the table.

Hutchinson had reportedly been offered to Everton, but the Premier League side felt he was too young to make a difference in their relegation scrap. According to Nizaar Kinsella, that left West Bromwich Albion and Wigan Athletic as viable options.

West Brom took the lead, and they looked to be close to sealing the deal. Then John Percy broke the news that the loan was “not happening” as the deadline passed.

There are various theories for why the deal didn’t go through, but the simplest is that West Brom decided to go with other targets.

Football.London report that the Baggies opted for Marc Albrighton, putting an end to their pursuit of Hutchinson.

Another theory floating around is that Chelsea were distracted focusing on their deal for Enzo Fernandez, which went right down to the wire.

Hakim Ziyech’s loan to PSG was scuppered by paperwork issues as Chelsea worked on signing Fernandez, and it’s possible something similar happened with Hutchinson. But there’s no evidence yet to support those claims.

Regardless of the reasoning behind Chelsea’s failure to loan Hutchinson out, the player will now bear the consequences.

The Blues have made multiple attacking signings in the January transfer window, from Mykhaylo Mudryk to Joao Felix, Noni Madueke, and David Datro Fofana.

Graham Potter’s squad looks to have filled up, and it’s hard to see how Hutchinson gets into it now.