- Clement wants to add another centre-forward to his ranks this summer.
- Norwich in the race to sign a player who won League One’s Golden.
- It may not make sense for what the Canaries are looking for.
Transfer season is well and truly underway, and we have several months of silly rumours and genuine targets to sift through and decipher which is which.
Recent days have seen Norwich City linked with Plymouth Argyle’s Bim Pepple and Charlotte FC winger Liel Abada.
Now, the Canaries are reportedly looking at a player who outscored Pepple in League One in the 2025/26 campaign.
Norwich are in the race to sign Golden Boot winner
According to SportsBoom, Norwich City are one of a number of clubs in the race to sign Leyton Orient centre-forward Dominic Ballard.
The report claims that the Yellows have emerged as one of the contenders to sign the League One star, who won the Golden Boot with 23 goals.
It adds, though, that they will face plenty of competition for his signature, because Wrexham, Swansea, and a host of unnamed League One teams are also keen on securing his services.
SportsBoom reveals that the League One sides will likely be priced out of a move, although it does not outline how much Leyton Orient are set to demand for Ballard.
The former Southampton forward is the third League One striker who has been linked with Norwich in recent weeks, following Pepple and Lorent Tolaj, who both play for Plymouth.
Does Dom Ballard make sense for Norwich?
It remains to be seen how much truth there is to this report because it does not look like a good fit for Philippe Clement’s team on paper.
Ballard does look to be an excellent goalscorer, having scored 23 goals in 40 games in League One, but he does not have the physical build of a Clement number nine.
The 21-year-old centre-forward could suffer in the same way that Mathias Kvistgaarden has during his time under the Belgian head coach, as he is another striker who is under 6 foot and struggles in duels.
Ballard lost 62% of his ground duels and 67% of his aerial duels in the third tier, which shows that defenders find it too easy to get the better of him in physical battles.
| 25/26 season | Mathias Kvistgaarden | Dominic Ballard |
| Ground Duels Won (Total) | 45 | 112 |
| Ground Duels Won per 90 | 3.62 | 2.90 |
| Ground Duel Success Rate | 42.9% | 37.8% |
| Aerial Duels Won (Total) | 29 | 54 |
| Aerial Duels Won per 90 | 2.33 | 1.40 |
| Aerial Duel Success Rate | 34.9% | 26.0% |
| Total Duels Won (Total) | 74 | 166 |
| Overall Duel Success Rate | 38.7% | 32.9% |
These statistics suggest that he would not be suited for the way that Clement wants his strikers to hold the ball up and compete with centre-backs to bring others into play.
Ballard is more of a poacher who can sniff out chances in the box or use his mobility to run off the back of defenders on the counter attack, rather than being the focal point of a dominant team.
The Leyton Orient star, therefore, does not make much sense as a signing for Norwich and would be better suited for a team that is competing further down the table or plays with a front two.
