Omari Elijah Giraud-Hutchinson (born 29 October 2003) is a professional footballer who plays as a winger or attacking midfielder for Premier League club Chelsea and the Jamaica national team.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Omari Elijah Giraud-Hutchinson[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (2003-10-29) 29 October 2003 (age 19) | ||
| Place of birth | Redhill, England[2] | ||
| Height | 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)[3] | ||
| Position(s) | Winger, attacking midfielder | ||
| Club information | |||
Current team | Chelsea | ||
| Number | 56 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Years | Team | ||
| 2008–2011 | Chelsea | ||
| 2012–2014 | Charlton Athletic | ||
| 2015–2022 | Arsenal | ||
| 2022– | Chelsea | ||
| International career‡ | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2020 | England U17 | 3 | (0) |
| 2021 | England U19 | 1 | (0) |
| 2022– | Jamaica | 1 | (0) |
| ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 20:04, 7 March 2022 (UTC) | |||
Hutchinson began his career with Chelsea,[4] before being scouted and signed by Charlton Athletic while playing football in the Addicks car park as his brother, Oshaye, was training with the youth team.[5] While at Charlton, he caught the eye of North-London rivals Arsenal, having impressed in a game against them.[6]
After two years with Charlton, Hutchinson left the club. Trials with Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and Brentford followed, but ultimately led to nothing. Hutchinson took a year-long break from academy football to play futsal with his friends, before joining Arsenal at under-12 level.[5]
At the age of twelve, Hutchinson took part in a South-London tournament hosted by Brazilian football legend Pelé, who praised Hutchinson for his skills. At the tournament, he also met football content creators F2Freestylers, who invited him to star in a video on their YouTube channel. The video, showcasing Hutchinson's skills, has amassed over four million views.[5]
In November 2020, Hutchinson signed his first professional contract with Arsenal.[7] He was handed a place on the bench for the Arsenal senior team for the first time in their 1–0 FA Cup defeat to Nottingham Forest on 9 January 2022.[8]
On 16 July 2022, Hutchinson rejoined Chelsea for an undisclosed fee.[9]
Born in England, Hutchinson is of Jamaican descent. He is a youth international for England, having represented the England U17s and U19s.[10][11]
He was called up to the Jamaica national team in May 2022, and made his debut in a 6–0 loss to Catalonia in the same month.[12][13]
Hutchinson was involved in the Amazon Original sports docuseries All or Nothing: Arsenal, which documented the club by spending time with the coaching staff and players behind the scenes both on and off the field throughout their 2021–22 season.[14][15]
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | EFL Cup | Europe | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Arsenal U21 | 2021–22[17] | — | — | — | — | 4[lower-alpha 1] | 2 | 4 | 2 | |||||
| Chelsea U21 | 2022–23[18] | — | — | — | — | 4[lower-alpha 1] | 1 | 4 | 1 | |||||
| Career total | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 3 | 8 | 3 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jamaica | 2022 | 1 | 0 |
| Total | 1 | 0 | |
Initially spotted as a five-year-old at Chelsea’s pre-academy development centre in Lambeth, Chelsea successfully fended off other suitors to sign [Malcolm Ebiowei] up. The Bermondsey-raised winger was part of a group including Omari Hutchinson and Brooke Norton-Cuffy, who later followed Ebiowei from west to north London to join Arsenal’s famed Hale End academy as youngsters.(subscription required)