Here Come The New Boys: Transfer Watch ’23

After an abysmal single win in the last 11 Championship games, Norwich announced their released and retained list. Farewells to Sam Byram, Kieran Dowell, Teemu Pukki, Michael McGovern, Josh Martin and Danel Sinani have left the club with a severe lack of depth – just 21 first-team players. And in the absence of any real academy standouts this season, the average age of the squad is 24.4 years old. 

The age of a squad is a critical factor in how players are recruited. We have a young squad that lacks experience of EFL Championship physicality. And thinking further forward, a young squad in the Premier League rarely works out – the most recent example being Southampton in the Premier League. Much like the Norwich sides of recent times, a squad of post-millennial players including Roméo Lavia. Juan Larios and Carlos Alcaraz inevitably lacked the fortitude to survive the division. 

The strategy of previous Webber transfer windows has been to acquire relative unknowns from abroad. Whether that’s the free transfer of Pukki, signings of Hernández, Srbeny and Zimmermann, or the huge fees paid for the likes of Tzolis and Rashica – players from other European leagues who aren’t that prolific who could be developed with a big money move in mind. Even after Brexit, Norwich stuck to the strategy by moving focus to South America and signing Sara and Núñez, with the latter already being linked to move to Europa League side Brighton.

Staying in the Premier League is a perpetual pipe dream, but since that magic 18/19 season this transfer strategy meant promotion was always regarded as guaranteed. In 22/23 we failed to go up, before letting several key players go. With the club accounts posting a £60 million loss last year, it was crucial to free up funds. Alongside our lack of a wealthy overseas investor, it’d pay to be smart with our spending over the next few windows. 

Norwich’s signings so far – Ashley Barnes, Jack Stacey and Shane Duffy – have a few traits in common, the most notable being a combination of a wealth of Premier League experience and lack of existing contract.

Having spent the last nine-plus years at Burnley, Ashley Barnes has gained a reputation for giving his all and outplaying most defenders in his path. He’s clever on the ball and knows how to wind up the opposition players – a skill  we could draw upon in key games next season (okay, the East Anglian derbies). Barnes was drilled into the typical 4-4-2  Dyche system at Burnley and could prove to be an injection of  feistiness into a mellow Norwich side. This transfer could end up working out well as an integral part of a push into Premier League football.

Jack Stacey was recently released from Premier League survivors Bournemouth. In contrast with Barnes’ stability at Burnley, Stacey was loaned out three times in as many seasons by first club Reading, before moving to Luton for two seasons and Bournemouth for four more. Well loved at Luton, he has a reputation as a solid right back. While posited  as a replacement for Max Aarons, he lacks attacking ability – but if a solid winger is put in front of him he should be able to link play reasonably well.

At 27, he is the youngest of our three new signings but there’s a catch – his time at Bournemouth was interrupted by three successive injuries and it has been argued that he hasn’t been the same since. A new injury could derail it all again for him, and us. Without the presence of attack, Stacey is an absolute flip of a coin move; he could either end up lighting Carrow Road on fire, or cast on the famous full-back scrapheap alongside players such as Heise and Husband.

The third signing is Shane Duffy, recently released from a marriage of inconvenience at Fulham but best known for his season at Brighton. This deal took ages to complete, leaving most fans expecting it to falter at the final hurdle; the soundtrack to the mammoth centre back finally holding up his photoshoot scarf was a collective sigh of relief. He’s often described as a ‘defender’s defender’ but so far this seems only to have been the case when the style fits. It’s set to be a more counter-attacking style this season, so if all goes well with efforts to keep fellow Irish defender Andrew Omobamidele then the pair could enjoy success at Norwich together.

What else is missing? Now we have the free transfers that have – to a degree – increased the grit of the team, we need to focus on at least one signing to add the creative flair currently only being exhibited by Gabriel Sara. Names already linked to Norwich are Gabriel Forsyth from Hamilton and Tom Ince from Reading. Fingers crossed we can achieve the balance that’s been long sought by an unstable team.