Norwich City: Canaries summer transfer window analysis

The Canaries headed off clubs like Rangers and Brondby to secure the Panamanian international centre back as the first signing of the Johannes Hoff Thorup era, in a reported €3.5m deal. But City fans should not expect a raft of multi-million pound arrivals from here.

The financial reality underpinning Norwich’s transfer strategy this summer is refreshing the Dane’s roster, while navigating a path through a post-parachute payment world.

The growing influence of Mark Attanasio, and Norfolk Holdings, offers reassurance and a backstop to the gloomy picture outlined in the last set of published accounts some 12 months ago.

Football finance expert Kieran Maguire estimated the figure owed in those accounts was £96m, although that alarming number excluded a player trading surplus in the summer of 2023 and a final parachute payment.

City’s wealthy American may have backed Knapper to proactively pursue Cordoba, but the Canaries remain a self-funded entity, and player sales a requirement not an optional extra.

Gabby Sara plundered 25 goal contributions in 46 Championship games for Norwich City (Image: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd)

What does that mean in practice? The departure of at least one of the crown jewels in Jon Rowe, Gabby Sara or Josh Sargent. Maybe more than one, if the interest is tangible, and offers match City’s valuations for their three most saleable assets.

But there are likely to be others in the mix. Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers went public in his desire to bring loanee Adam Idah back to Parkhead, after some big goals on the way to a league and cup double north of the border.

Idah’s most recent comments, while away on international duty, underlined how much he loved his time in Glasgow, and how valued he felt in a green and white shirt.

From Norwich’s perspective there is a reasonable expectation the club could command a fee in the £6m to £8m bracket. Given Idah's goalscoring potential, age and lengthy contractual status tilted in the club’s favour.

Should Celtic, or other potential suitors, reach the upper echelons of that price range it is difficult to see him being a part of Thorup’s Championship debut tour.

Fresh speculation in Turkey Europa League hopefuls Trabzonspor have been told to return with an improved offer for Marcelino Nunez can be framed within the same central thrust of City’s overall transfer strategy.

At this early stage, post-Cordoba confirmation, the headlines will come from outs rather than ins, and without generating significant funds again this summer Knapper and Thorup may have to focus their energy on free agents and loans.

Those recent reports linking the Dane with compatriots, and former FC Nordsjælland products Emiliano Marcondes and Martin Freese, chime with a project that is going to require patience, take multiple windows, and place firmly at its core the development of academy-produced talent. View young striker Ken Aboh's pending new deal in that context.

Norwich City's England Under-21s international Jon Rowe's Championship breakthrough season is sure to attract Premier League interest this summer (Image: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd)

Which brings us full circle to Rowe. The 21-year-old was nothing short of a revelation in the first part of the last Championship season, before those persistent injuries left him struggling to make the same impact when it mattered most down the stretch.

Rowe scored 11 goals in league and cup before Christmas, and that level of productivity saw him linked with Premier League clubs in January - a non starter with the Canaries harbouring promotion ambitions of their own.

But this summer has more than an air of the time being right for all parties, for a player under contract until 2025 - albeit City retain a further one year option. With Abu Kamara catching the eye in a superb loan stint at League One champions Portsmouth, and Borja Sainz now fully up to speed with the rigours of the English second tier, there is a path to Norwich sanctioning Rowe’s departure; as long as the price is right for Knapper and those above him.

Crystal Palace and Wolves have been linked again since the end of last season. There will be others.

One can only hope from a Norwich perspective if it is Rowe, or Sara or Sargent such pursuits do not turn into sagas that ebb all the way to the end of the summer window at the end of August, and potentially five or six matches into the new campaign.  

The winds of change may be blowing with Thorup’s pending arrival, in terms of a culture shift, and to quote Knapper when dispensing with David Wagner’s services ‘a new direction’, but keep in mind the same financial constraints remain.  

Wagner himself revealed after the regular season finale at Birmingham a stated top six objective had been met while generating a £20m surplus in last summer’s transfer market.

The sales of Max Aarons, Milot Rashica, Bali Mumba and Andrew Omobamidele brought in £21.4m which, in part, will offset the loss of parachute payments in the next set of published club accounts to June 2024.

But if that necessary revenue seam was a factor last summer, it will be so again. Only the scale might be different if City manage to offload some of their better talent.

But there is also a clear sense, if you listen to the public words of Attanasio, or finance and operations director Anthony Richens during various points last season, that such decisions will now be driven by football rather than purely financial considerations. That has not always been the case in recent seasons. Go back to the James Maddison exit in 2018.

Delivering Premier League football is still the mission. It is what enticed Attanasio to first invest, and it is no doubt what has brought Thorup to these shores as well.    

Patience is a word that has been heard often already since the Dane’s arrival was confirmed. It will be required in abundance by Norwich fans when it comes to his squad makeover this summer.