The Eastern Daily Press and FootyMad are reporting this morning that Norwich are interested in the recently released Youssouf Mulumbu. The former West Brom man made over 200 appearances for the Baggies over 7 years, and was held with high regard with supporters at the Hawthorns.
Mulumbu appeared 17 times in the Premier League last season, but did not seem to be in manager Tony Pulis’ first team plans, appearing only a few times off the bench under his reign. He has also notched an impressive number of caps at international level for the Democratic Republic of Congo, managing to feature at this year’s African Cup of Nations in Equatorial Guinea.
Mulumbu would join a Norwich midfield with depth. With many different partnerships available it is fair to say that signing Mulumbu would not just be to add to the quantity of midfielders; his arrival would be to add quality and experience to the midfield, with years played at international and club level. Would Mulumbu signing mean that some midfielders may be offloaded? Maybe, as certainly some would struggle to get game time, notably Tony Andreu and Gary O’Neil.
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If he signs for the Canaries, he would join former Baggie Graham Dorrans at Carrow Road, reuniting the duo who both played in the West Brom midfield for a number of years.
When released by West Brom last month Mulumbu said that he was hopeful of quickly finding another Premier League club and by the looks of it, he’ll get his wish very quickly.
David McNally has also had a say on the club’s recruitment policy over the forthcoming summer, telling the EDP: “The squad is strong, but we need to support the strong players in a way that ensures anyone who joins improves the group. We’ll see what the summer brings, but I think I would be happier if it was five, six, or seven players joining rather than ten, eleven, or twelve.”
Furthermore, McNally touched on the issue of recruiting either domestic-based players, or going abroad – like Chris Hughton did before that doomed season which saw Norwich bring in Ricky van Wolfswinkel and Leroy Fer from abroad.
“We have greater knowledge in the domestic market than we have the international markets, but if we were bringing in six or seven the chance is the majority will be British-based players, although in the Premier League you also have to be aware of the international scene and look to Europe for one or two.”
More on this story if it develops.
