Josh Sargent fear raised at Norwich City after Canaries transfer exploits.
This article is part of Football League World’s ‘Terrace Talk’ series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…
After a relatively quiet January, Norwich City ended the winter transfer window in style, acquiring three new signings on deadline day, and even thereafter.
Norwich City – Transfer incomings 2025 (as per Transfermarkt)
Date
Name
Position
Signed from
Fee
Jan 3
Lewis Dobbin
Left Winger
Aston Villa
Loan
Jan 13
Anis Slimane
Central Midfield
Sheffield United
£1.4m
Feb 3
Matěj Jurásek
Right Winger
Slavia Prague
£5.8m
Feb 3
Ruairi McConville
Centrel-Back
Brighton U21
£1.25m
Feb 4
Jacob Wright
Defensive Midfielder
Manchester City
Loan.
The trio of late arrivals, headlined by highly touted Slavia Prague winger Matěj Jurásek, plug some previously concerning gaps in the Canaries’ squad depth as they attempt to perforate the Championship’s all-important play-off positions.
In a week that started in potentially nervy territory for the Carrow Road faithful, the contingent spine of the team has now been reupholstered by a pair of young talents with international esteem, and the blatantly obvious dearth of capable wingers has been eased by the arrival of Lewis Dobbin and the aforementioned Czech.
However, while on paper the Norfolk side seemed to have pulled it out of the bag at the eleventh hour, with the winter’s dealings now in retrospect, are supporters entirely satisfied with the club’s business ahead of a crucial promotion push?
“If Sargent gets injured we don’t really have anyone” – Reliance on American’s fitness is Canaries concern
Josh Sargent
With the Yellows’ squad now set in stone, FLW asked resident Norwich fan pundit, Zeke Downes, what, if anything, he wished his club had done differently in the most recent transfer window.
“One thing that wish that we did do over the course of the window was get a striker in, because if Josh Sargent gets injured we don’t really have anyone.
“We’ve got Ante Crnac, but he’s not really an out-and-out striker, obviously we can fill holes, but it’s not ideal, so we just have to hope that Josh can stay fit, which doesn’t always happen.
“So that was the one position that I think we could have strengthened, especially as they’ve let Ken Aboh leave on loan to Colchester, I would have expected them to bring in another striker to replace him.
“But then, also, you don’t want to bring in a striker that’s expecting to play, because they probably wouldn’t be, so I can see why they haven’t.”
Downes voices considerable concern for an entirely possible eventuality, as without ample back-up, a further lengthy absence to an injury-prone Josh Sargent could completely derail Johannes Hoff Thorup’s attacking prospects amid the business end of the season.
Ante Crnac must become a multi-purpose forward option
Ante Crnac Norwich City
Croatian forward Ante Crnac has had a polarising maiden campaign at Carrow Road.
Joining in late-August for a hefty sum from Polish side Raków, the 21-year-old has already collected 30 appearances for his new club across all competitions.
His positional profile is perhaps up for debate as having been signed as a centre-forward when Sargent is fit, he has played almost exclusively on the wide-right.
While his five Championship goals thus far is by no means a meager sum, with these coming against Stoke, Swansea, Plymouth and Luton, Crnac is yet to find the net against a team positioned in the upper-two-thirds of the table, implying his goal-scoring abilities may still be someway off of the level expected at Norwich City, but with obvious room to improve.
