- A dive into Mathias Kvistgaarden’s struggles at Norwich
- Why the Danish striker was signed for Liam Manning
- A look at why he is not to blame for flopping at Carrow Road
Norwich City made a big splash in the transfer market last summer when they paid a fee of just under £7m to sign Mathias Kvistgaarden from Brondby.
Ben Knapper and Lee Dunn took advantage of a release clause that was unknown to some of the other teams interested in signing him, such as Bundesliga outfit Eintracht Frankfurt.
There was a lot of excitement around this signing within the fanbase because the Danish forward arrived after scoring 23 goals in all competitions for Brondby in the 2024/25 season.
The numbers behind Mathias Kvistgaarden’s season
Kvistgaarden failed to find the back of the net for the seventh straight game as a starter in the 1-1 draw with Portsmouth, a game for which Read Norwich handed him a player rating of 5/10.
The 23-year-old marksman has scored six goals in 30 appearances in the Championship so far this season, although he has only started a third of those games.
A knee injury sustained in the 1-1 draw with Coventry back in September hampered his progress under Liam Manning, and he has missed seven games in total through injury.
It is the physicality of the Championship that has caused Kvistgaarden the most issues, though, as he has lost 57% of his ground duels and 68% of his aerial duels in the division.
Why Kvistgaarden was signed by Norwich
The Denmark international was, of course, signed for former head coach Manning to fit the way that he wanted to play with the Canaries.
Before Philippe Clement came to Carrow Road with his 4-2-3-1 formation, the Yellows typically deployed a hybrid system that moved between a 3-4-2-1 in possession and a 4-4-2 out of possession.
The former Bristol City boss wanted a partnership between Josh Sargent, who brought raw physical attributes and strength, and Kvistgaarden, who offered brilliant movement, energy, and technical qualities.
Under Clement, though, Norwich only play with one centre-forward. That means that Kvistgaarden does not have another player to shoulder the physical responsibilities that come with playing as a striker in the Championship.
Not to blame for flopping at Norwich
Speaking last month, Emi Marcondes said: “It’s just something for Philippe Clement who likes big and strong attackers who run deep.”
That does not sound like Kvistgaarden, who is 5 foot 8 and has lost 62% of his duels this season, but it does sound like Mohamed Toure and Jovon Makama, who missed out on England U21 duty through injury.
Football moves quickly and situations change. The former Brondby sensation was signed to play a very specific role in a front two with Sargent for Manning last summer.
Less than 12 months on, Sargent and Manning are gone and Norwich have a new head coach who plays a very different system and style of play. That is not Kvistgaarden’s fault.
It is very possible that the Dane leaves the club in the summer, as he faces the prospect of being behind Toure and Makama at the start of next season, but there should not be any blame attached to him for how it has gone.
Sometimes the stars do not align in football and that has been the case for the £7m-rated centre-forward, who has possibly been the biggest loser from the change in management.
It would be brilliant to see him adapt to the new system and make a success of his Norwich career, but the changing circumstances since he signed mean that he should not be blamed if it does not work out.
