“If they offered £20 million” – Norwich City: Josh Sargent factor mentioned in Ante Crnac exit debate
After missing out on the playoffs, Norwich unexpectedly fired head coach Johannes Hoff Thorup last month. Although Jack Wilshere did well in his brief interim role, he will not be offered the permanent position and is likely to quit the team entirely.
The search for Thorup’s replacement will be “focused externally,” according to Canaries sporting director Ben Knapper. The club’s new manager may have to deal with the departure of some important players, such as Josh Sargent and Borja Sainz, who scored 15 and 19 goals this season, respectively.
However, according to Sky Germany, Borussia Dortmund is keeping an eye on forward Ante Crnac as they search for a backup to star scorer Serhou Guirassy, so it’s not just Sainz and Sargent who could be lost by Norwich in the upcoming months.
Norwich paid a reported £8.5 million to recruit Crnac from Polish team Rakow Czestochowa in the summer, despite the fact that he only scored nine goals in 40 games for his previous club. Although he did not quite reach the heights that many had hoped for, he nevertheless had a respectable debut season at Carrow Road.
| Ante Crnac’s stats for Norwich City this season (as per Transfermarkt) | |
| Appearances | 40 |
| Goals | 7 |
| Assists | 5 |
FLW’s Norwich City fan pundit Zeke Downes stated that he does not want to see the 21-year-old leave, but he acknowledged that it might be hard to reject an offer of between £15 million and £20 million if Dortmund makes a move for Crnac this summer.
“I don’t see a world in which we let Ante Crnac go, unless we keep hold of Sargent, but I don’t see that happening,” Zeke said to FLW.
“We recently paid £8.5 million to sign him, and he’s showed some excellent qualities.
“Despite playing in the right position most of the time and not playing much, he already has some good goals and assists, and he’s still very young.
“He still has a lot to grow, but he’s demonstrated enough that, despite the apparent risk, I believe he can make that leap in the upcoming season without Sargent.
“I can understand why he would want to leave if Dortmund were to bid for him, but it would have to be profitable, so you’re looking at about £15–20 million.
“You would have to accept their offer of £20 million, but that would leave us without any strikers.
“We have the money to replace them with three or four attackers if we spend £20 million on him, £15–20 million on Sargent, and possibly an additional £15 million on Sainz.
“If that does occur, we have a lot of options because we could also use that money on Lewis Dobbin and Jacob Wright.
“But I would keep Crnac unless they offered a decent amount of money.”
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