- Norwich failed to sign Kasper Høgh in the January transfer window.
- Philippe Clement says Norwich want to be ambitious in the summer.
- How the Canaries can avoid blocking Jovon Makama’s pathway.
Norwich City’s promotion hopes were all but extinguished after their 2-0 loss to Ipswich Town in the East Anglian derby at Carrow Road last weekend.
They are already clear of relegation and have a minute chance of securing sixth place to qualify for the play-offs, although Philippe Clement will ensure that the standards remain high in the last four games.
Whilst the Belgian boss will treat the last four matches with the respect that they deserve, Norwich’s head coach will already be working with Ben Knapper to put plans in place for the summer transfer window.
What’s been said about Norwich’s summer plans
Speaking after the loss to Ipswich, Clement told the Pink Un:
“I know also that the club is ambitious to get the right recruitment to help the team towards next season for higher ambitions than what the team did until now.
“We’re on the right path, because we’re competing with all of the teams fighting for promotion.”
This shows that the club are already thinking about what they want to do to improve the team for the 2026/27 campaign, and there has been a suggestion that a striker will be among their priorities.
Responding to a fan question about Norwich’s summer plans to sign a striker, Pink Un reporter Adam Harvey wrote:
“When you look at the profile of striker they wanted in January in Kasper Høgh, I would expect that to be the benchmark for a summer striker signing, one with serious pedigree.”
Norwich’s failed pursuit of Kasper Høgh
As Josh Sargent was training with the U21s ahead of his eventual move to Toronto, Clement and Knapper pursued a deal to sign Høgh from Bodo/Glimt in January.
The Canaries made a £7m offer for the Danish frontman, per Fabrizio Romano, but the deal fell through in the most unbelievable way possible.
Bodo/Glimt needed to beat Manchester City and Atletico Madrid in successive Champions League matches to qualify for the knockout stages, and Høgh scored three goals in those two games to secure two wins.
The Norwegian side’s qualification for the knockout rounds meant that they were unwilling to sell their star striker in January, which led Norwich to pivot to the signing of Mohamed Toure from Randers.
Since joining the club, the Australia international has scored four goals and provided three assists in seven Championship appearances.
Why Norwich do not need a marquee centre-forward signing
Because Toure missed a month with a muscle injury and Jovon Makama has been out since 7th February with a foot injury, Mathias Kvistgaarden has led the line in recent weeks.
The Danish forward, however, was signed to play in a front two with Josh Sargent in Liam Manning’s 3-4-2-1 / 4-4-2 hybrid system, and does not suit the way that Clement wants his strikers to play.
His run of nine matches without a goal as a starter for Norwich has led to online speculation, and speculation from local reporters, that the club need to splash out significant money on a new striker.
Why?
Any centre-forward coming in for big money would reasonably expect to start the majority, if not all, of the games when fit and available.
Where does that leave Makama? Where does that leave Toure? Norwich play with one striker and Clement has stuck to that since his second game in charge.
Some have suggested that Makama could get minutes starting out wide. This season, the English forward has started eight games on the right flank under Manning and Clement and Norwich have won none of them, losing four and drawing four.
The Canaries also have Matej Jurasek and Ante Crnac, two left-footed right wingers, to come back from injury and may dip into the market to sign another natural winger.
It is not a healthy business or footballing model to sign four or five starters for each position because you are afraid of injuries. The objective should be to improve the work behind the scenes to avoid such ridiculous injury issues.
The kind of striker Norwich should sign
Because Norwich already have Makama, who has scored ten Championship goals and shown that he has the physicality to lead the line at this level, and Toure, who has shown great promise in limited game time, the Canaries do not need someone to start every week.
Assuming Kvistgaarden moves on due to the lack of tactical fit in Clement’s side, Norwich should replace the Dane with a Jordan Rhodes or Jordan Hugill type of signing.
Signing an experienced, not necessarily just Championship proven, striker who is willing to play second-fiddle to Makama, in the same way that Rhodes and Hugill did to Pukki, would be ideal.
This is not who I am recommending Norwich to sign, but Lyndon Dykes, for example, is a free agent this summer and is a vastly-experienced Championship campaigner who has a physical profile that Clement would like.
Someone of that profile, whether they are experienced in England or another suitable league, to come in and mentor Makama and Toure without blocking their pathway and wanting to start 46 out of 46 games, is the way to go.
Now, I am not going to be annoyed and cursing out Knapper if the club drop £7m on an new striker signing, as that always brings excitement, but it feels like the logical move would be to spend that money elsewhere and to go for an experienced back-up marksman instead.
