Norwich City are reportedly ready to play hardball with any potential suitors for the likes of Ben Godfrey, Emi Buendia and Max Aarons once Championship relegation is confirmed.
Godfrey was the first of City’s highly-rated young talent touted with a summer move in the past week, with City on the verge of losing their Premier League status after a sixth straight league defeat on Tuesday at Watford.
Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig were linked last weekend with the 22-year-old, who reportedly could be available for £25m.
Now Sky Sports claim on Wednesday morning City will ‘demand’ double that before they consider offloading a player they believe can become a regular England international.
Godfrey is under contract at Carrow Road until 2023 (with a further one year option) and both sporting director Stuart Webber and head coach Daniel Farke have reiterated in recent days the Canaries are not under pressure to sell as they face up to the reality of relegation.
Sky also claim City are braced for interest in both Buendia and Aarons as Premier League rivals weigh up moves for their top talent.
Buendia scored his first Premier League goal of his career in the 2-1 defeat at Vicarage Road, while Aarons has long been linked with the likes of Arsenal and Tottenham after establishing himself as the Canaries’ first choice right back.
Farke was dismissive of the Godfrey links to his homeland when pressed on Monday.
“For 18 months I have lived with these speculations. I wouldn’t pay too much attention to it,” he said. “Of course we have many young players and it’s also a sign that we do something right for the developing of the young players that they have developed unbelievably well. And also in the past when I think about players like James Maddison or Angus Gunn, or the Murphy twins, it’s a part of our way that we want to develop young players.
“When they develop even a bit quicker than the club and a bigger club wants to sign them that is more or less a sign that we are doing something right. But the reality is they are our players and the good thing is that we didn’t invest that much money, in terms of spending money, for high quality players in the summer.
“Right now we are in the situation where we are financially absolutely solid and don’t have any pressure at all to sell. So I am quite relaxed.”
“I think that’s our big advantage after our promotion, from our position two years ago. We are in a much better situation and we must develop the club further on.
“If we can go on like this then hopefully in two or three years we will be able to spend some money into bringing real quality, another level of quality, to make our lives easier – it would make my life easier, that’s for sure.”
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