A Champions League player with international experience, aged just 21 and costing less than £4million.

On the face of it, Norwich City sporting director Ben Knapper has pulled off another coup in the transfer market this summer.

After impressive moves for the highly-rated Jose Cordoba, Aston Villa prospect Ben Chrisene and Championship-experienced Callum Doyle, the former Arsenal loan manager has seemingly added to what's becoming an impressive portfolio.

Of course, Sydney van Hooijdonk's ill-fated spell as his first City signing shows that the proof is in the pudding rather than on paper, but Amankwah Forson has fans excited perhaps more than any other recruit has this pre-season.

That doesn't mean he'll automatically slot in with ease, and it should be remembered that this is a man still feeling his way into first-team football. He admitted as recently as January that he was still on the way up in Austria with RB Salzburg, even if he was starting to capture attention from elsewhere.

"I might say this season I've been good, because last season I wasn't playing so much," he said. "But I think this season is really good because I've been playing so many games.

"I think I am becoming more important to the team because last season I wasn't playing so much and then this season I play so much and I am having the opportunity to impact games."

Impact was the right word in many senses, Forson's advanced 'eight' positioning allowing plenty of runs into the box and attacking contributions. He created 1.28 chances per game last season and won 2.18 fouls, his stocky, shorter build aiding runs into forward areas.

The lack of conversion from that to goals and assists will be a concern, however, with only two goals and two assists produced in the Austrian Bundesliga during the 2023-24 campaign. If he's to be the Gabriel Sara replacement many hope he is, that will need to improve.

But Johannes Hoff Thorup has spoken openly about the need there may be to replace the Brazilian with more than one player, and Forson could be well-suited to the more defensive side of his predecessor's game.

He won 1.35 tackles per game last term, topped the Austrian chart for blocks and made 6.77 recoveries every 90 minutes. Add to that his 1.2 interceptions, his strong ability to cover ground and his enjoyment of a high press, and he looks to be equipped for the out-of-possession elements of Thorup's system.

Has Ben Knapper found his Gabriel Sara replacement?Has Ben Knapper found his Gabriel Sara replacement? (Image: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd)

The Ghanaian's 'probability to contribute to the team' statistics also stand up to this theory, his defending besting his passing and finishing in that respect.

In any case adaptation will be required, as it has been for every player in Thorup's squad. The idiosyncrasies of his complex attacking system mean it will take time to overhaul David Wagner's less-defined style, including for his players.

But Forson's arrival is another step toward the philosophy he and Knapper are attempting to impart in NR1, and he ticks many of the boxes targeted at the start of City's summer of change.

What he also represents is the readiness with which departures will be responded to. It took mere days to strike a deal with Salzburg after Sara's exit, and that's how Knapper means to go on.

The Canaries' fourth signing of the summer near-instantly shifts the narrative away from what's been lost and to what's been gained, as the search for new heroes continues apace. Just as there was a plan for Sara's replacement, there are those in case of acceptable bids for Josh Sargent, Jonathan Rowe and all others.

Forson, along with his new team, has big shoes to fill. It won't be easy and he isn't yet the perfect player, but his calibre is hard to question as he arrives at Carrow Road.