- Norwich are interested in signing Charlotte FC winger Liel Abada.
- Philippe Clement wants to sign a new right winger in the summer window.
- Analysing whether or not Abada fits the bill for the Canaries.
There has been a bit of political discourse in the Norwich City sphere on X this week after some strong reactions to the club’s interest in Liel Abada.
Philippe Clement has already revealed that the Canaries want to bolster their squad with a new right-wing option to replace Tony Springett in the upcoming summer transfer window.
Now, the Yellows have a reported interest in a forward who currently plays for former Norwich boss Dean Smith in the MLS.
Norwich’s interest in Liel Abada
It was recently reported that Norwich City and Birmingham City are two of the clubs exploring a deal to bring Abada to England.
The winger’s current contract with Charlotte is due to expire at the end of 2026, but they do have an option to extend it by a further 12 months.
He left Celtic to sign for the MLS outfit for a fee of £10m back in March 2024, but it remains to be seen how much they would want for his services in the upcoming summer transfer window.
In the Pink Un’s Q&A on Wednesday, reliable reporter Connor Southwell revealed that Abada is “one they’ve assessed”, but “one of many” on the club’s list of winger targets.
This suggests that there is truth to Norwich’s interest in the Israel international, but that does not mean that they are already lining up a formal approach or that they have made him their number on target.
Does it make sense for Norwich?
In recent weeks, I concluded that Lorent Tolaj made sense for Norwich and that Nestory Irankunda does not make sense for the Canaries.
Abada falls into the latter category, and not because of his place of birth. Despite some controversy online this week, the winger does not make too much sense for Norwich for footballing reasons.
Clement currently has a bunch of wide players or players who can play wide and ‘do a job’ out there, but there is not a standout option who could be likened to Emi Buendia, or even Borja Sainz.
Ali Ahmed, Oscar Schwartau, Matej Jurasek, Ante Crnac, Paris Maghoma, Papa Diallo, and Liam Gibbs are either decent enough options or are better in other positions.
What Norwich need to add to the squad is a player who offers more consistent quality at the top end of the pitch to propel the team to a promotion push next season.
| Abada (MLS) | Appearances | Goals | Assists | Big Chances Created |
| 2025 | 34 | 5 | 1 | 6 |
| 2026 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
Abada, though, has only recorded five goals and two assists in 42 games since the start of the 2025 MLS campaign, underperforming his xG of 7.85 in that time.
Not a consistent goal contributor
These statistics suggest that, despite scoring 29 goals in 112 games for Celtic, he is not the consistent contributor of goals and assists that Norwich need to take their squad to the next level.
Instead, Abada could arrive at Carrow Road as just another wide player who can ‘do a job’ and contribute every now and then with a goal or an assist.
Norwich need genuine stars to elevate their attack next season, and the former Celtic star does not seem to fit the bill based on his form for Charlotte in the past 18 months.
That is why this one does not make much sense for the Canaries and why they should be looking elsewhere this summer.
