Deadline Day Live Blog: Norwich City
Hello and welcome to Read Norwich’s live transfer deadline day blog where we will keep you as up-to-date as possible on all the ins and outs from Norwich City right up to the 11pm deadline.
We’ll be back after a quick break!
Leeds are still monitoring Kyle Lafferty and could make an attempt to bring him to Elland Road. This story has been circulating throughout the transfer window but with Lafferty’s Sion move breaking down last night and Bamford signing over the weekend, Norwich may want to offload their forgotten man.
So one in, one out so far today. We saw Ebou Adams join from Dartford and Louis Thompson leave on loan for Swindon.
Will there be any more deals concerning Norwich City in the remaining hours?
Dwight Gayle will not be leaving Selhurst Park tonight, for a second successive window he decides to stay at Crystal Palace and has now penned a new four-and-a-half year contract.
More City fans have been impressed with the work Alex Neil has done in this transfer window:
@ReadNorwich prudence with ambition!
— Jonathan Dove (@dovej76) February 1, 2016
@ReadNorwich Cool, calm, collected. #ncfc
— Sue Read (@gorlestongirl) February 1, 2016
@ReadNorwich better than expected
— Natalie Dawn (@natroberts_x) February 1, 2016
Still lots to be decided. Will Alex Neil complete an eighth signing of the window? Will Graham Dorrans leave on loan to either Middlesbrough or Burnley? Will Kyle Lafferty finally end his Carrow Road nightmare? Or will there be a surprise late in the day? Stick around and you will find out here….
Less than six hours to go!
Reports that Dwight Gayle will look to leave Crystal Palace tonight seem to have substance since he has fallen down the pecking order further thanks to the signing of Emmanuel Adebayor. Swansea, Leicester and Norwich are all interested in him but do the Canaries need another striker after bringing in Bamford?
The 21-year-old scored two goals in fourteen appearances in a previous loan deal earlier in the season but with competition for places high in the Norwich squad, another stint on loan suits all parties. Thompson will stay at Swindon until the end of the season.
DONE DEAL: Louis Thompson has rejoined Swindon Town on loan until the end of the season as Norwich have just confirmed.
NEWS | @Louis_T19 rejoins @Official_STFC on loan, subject to approval. Read more: https://t.co/p2yiqGJWmZ #ncfc pic.twitter.com/wG93LRC0it
— Norwich City FC (@NorwichCityFC) February 1, 2016
This time two years ago, Jonas Gutierrez and Joseph Yobo were the only January signings made and both were only loan deals. Norwich were subsequently relegated. This window, Norwich have spent £20million on seven players. What a difference.
From here, it looks like the emphasis is on outgoings rather than going after an elusive eighth signing. Lafferty to Leeds and Dorrans to Middlesbrough and Burnley proposed loan deals bubbling under the surface. Will be interesting to see if any progress is made in the remaining eight and a half hours. I’ll keep you posted as always….
Burnley have joined Middlesbrough in the race to sign Graham Dorrans after missing out on Alex Pritchard. It remains to be seen whether the Scottish international will opt for a loan move to the Championship.
With no transfer news to report, we took to Twitter to ask Norwich fans how they feel about their window in three words:
@ReadNorwich just. can't. even.
— Dean Padre Simmer+ (@mojodean) February 1, 2016
@ReadNorwich staying in prem
— Harry Borgenvik (@NcfcHarryrb97) February 1, 2016
@ReadNorwich Done it early
— Jack O'Neill (@JackMiniONeill) February 1, 2016
But, Kyle Lafferty’s future remains still in the balance. If he wants to make sure he’s on the plane to France in the summer, he will want to move to a club where he will be playing. Leeds have been interested all window, could they make a Deadline Day move for the Northern Ireland man?
With just over 10 hours left until that transfer window slams shut, Norwich have done very well in this transfer window. The Canaries have strengthened in key areas, built for the future and offloaded players surplus to requirements. With Alex Neil saying earlier that you can never know for certain what players will become available, there is the general feeling that Norwich are content with their business and are unlikely to bring in another player.
The deal for Adams is an 18-month deal for an undisclosed fee from non-league Dartford. The midfielder becomes Alex Neil’s seventh signing of the window and will link up with the U21 squad for the rest of the season alongside fellow January signing Ben Godfrey.
Sounds like a promising deal for the future. Let us know what you think @ReadNorwich or comment below.
Norwich City complete Ebou Adams deal. More to follow.
NEWS | City complete deal for future prospect Ebou Adams from @dartfordfc. Full story: https://t.co/JRrnpVJmxk pic.twitter.com/JXgkdCcSJi
— Norwich City FC (@NorwichCityFC) February 1, 2016
Dorrans despite playing 20 times in all competitions this season for the Canaries could find the appeal of regular first-team football with Middlesbrough to help them in their promotion push, similar to his Norwich move this time last year. But if a move is to break down, a shorter term loan deal could possibly be an option when the loan window opens again in the football league.
Norwich midfielder, Graham Dorrans, has been linked with a loan move to Middlesbrough. More to follow….
All is quiet on Norwich rumours at the moment. Alex Neil did say that it might be a quiet day on the incoming player front, however, I would be very surprised if no one leaves. Kyle Lafferty, Yousouff Mulumbu and Steven Whittaker could all leave on possible loan deals today.
Stuart Pearce said on Sky Sports News that he has been impressed with the business Alex Neil has done so far but it won’t be clear until May whether it was a good transfer window for the Canaries. Pearce believes Norwich need another defender, would you agree?
Incredible to think that Norwich were linked with £21 million man Saido Berahino earlier in the window. Are Stoke and Newcastle wasting their money or have Norwich missed out?
You can have your say on what you think of Norwich’s business so far and whether it has been a successful window by commenting below or tweeting us @ReadNorwich.
Alex Neil has confirmed in his pre-match press conference ahead of Tottenham tomorrow that the majority of his business is done but is hopeful of completing a deal for Ebu Adams from Dartford.
#ncfc AN: 'the majority of our stuff is done. The lad at dartford is one we hope to get done today. Another godfrey longer term deal.'
— Paddy Davitt (@paddyjdavitt) February 1, 2016
Norwich are set to sign non-league midfielder Ebu Adams according to Sports Journalist Pete O’Rourke. Fee is obviously unconfirmed, more as we get it…
Norwich set to sign Dartford midfielder Ebu Adams. #NCFC
— Pete O'Rourke (@SportsPeteO) February 1, 2016
It is highly likely that Louis Thompson will make another loan move to Swindon Town today. Swindon Chairman, Lee Power, is said to be confident according to Chris Goreham’s tweet.
#ncfc #DeadlineDay latest from @BBCNorfolk: Swindon Chairman Lee Power is confident of getting Louis Thompson on loan again. #bbcfootball
— Chris Goreham (@CGoreham) February 1, 2016
However, the biggest puzzler so far is how the controversial striker Kyle Lafferty remains at Norwich. The Northern Ireland international is a fringe player at Norwich and following yesterday’s signing of Bamford, he will almost certainly not play a part in the first-team again this season. A move to Sion broke down yesterday after Lafferty was keen to stay in England ahead of Euro 2016 this summer.
It has certainly been a busy one for Alex Neil as he has brought in five new additions and agreed a permanent deal for Matt Jarvis from West Ham to take City’s tally to six signings so far. These are Ivo Pinto, Ben Godfrey, Steven Naismith, Timm Klose and Patrick Bamford on loan from Chelsea. There have also been departures, Lewis Grabban completed a £8million deal to Bournemouth while Elliott Bennett and Gary Hooper also completed permanent switches to the Championship and moved to Blackburn and Sheffield Wednesday respectively.