- Norwich suffered from a load of injury issues at left-back this season.
- A new left-back is on the wishlist for Philippe Clement.
- The Canaries released a left-back who is now playing top-flight football.
It is well documented that Norwich City are going to be in the market to sign a new left-back when the summer transfer window opens for business.
Kellen Fisher had to play at left-back far too many times in the 2025/26 campaign due to injuries to Harry Amass, Jeffrey Schlupp, Ben Chrisene, and Lucien Mahovo.
Sixteen of the England U21 international’s starts came at left-back, compared to 20 at right-back, which shows that he was taken away from his natural position regularly.
Why Norwich need a new left-back
The Canaries have to dip into the market to sign a new left-back in the summer transfer window because they cannot trust their current options in that position.
Chrisene played 47 out of 92 games in the last two Championship seasons, whilst Mahovo played 14 times across both campaigns.
Neither of them have been able to prove that they can play regular football without sustaining injury issues, which has left the last three Norwich managers short of options at left-back.
Johannes Hoff Thorup, Liam Manning, and Philippe Clement all had to play players out of position at left-back in the past two seasons because of Chrisene and Mahovo’s injuries.
Now, the Canaries need to sign a new left-back to bolster their squad, and Read Norwich recently suggested that former Rangers defender Jefte could be an interesting option.
One that got away for Norwich
While Norwich will dip into the market to sign a new left-back, they could have avoided the need to do that by keeping hold of one of their former academy stars.
In the summer of 2024, Guilherme Montóia was allowed to leave the club on a free transfer so that he could explore first-team football elsewhere and Norwich could free up an ESC slot.
The Portuguese youngster joined the club from Benfica’s academy in 2023 and provided three assists in 11 Premier League 2 games for the U23s in the 2023/24 campaign.
Montóia was an unused substitute for seven Championship games, but was not given a first-team debut by David Wagner.
The left-footed defender then played and caught the eye in several games under Thorup, before the club secured deals for Callum Doyle on loan from Man City and Chrisene on a permanent deal from Aston Villa.
Those new signings meant that first-team football looked out of Montóia’s reach last season, which led to his exit from Carrow Road.
Where Guilherme Montóia is now…
He signed for Estrela Amadora in Portugal shortly after leaving Norfolk and got his wish of playing first-team football.
The 22-year-old played 22 matches in the Portuguese top-flight, starting 13 times, in 18 months with Amadora.
After starting four games in the first half of this season, Montóia opted to sign for Polish top-flight side Jagiellonia Bialystok on a permanent deal in January.
Since moving to Poland, the former Norwich talent has started eight out of his 12 appearances and caught the eye with some impressive displays.
| 25/26 Ekstraklasa | Guilherme Montóia |
| Appearances | 11 |
| Assists | 1 |
| Chances Created (Key Passes) | 12 |
| Total Expected Assists (xA) | 1.09 |
| xA per 90 | 0.15 |
| Tackles per 90 | 2.29 |
| Duel Success Rate | 57.1% |
Montóia’s form in Poland shows that he can be strong defensively, winning the majority of his duels, whilst also offering creativity with his cultured left foot.
Crucially, the Portuguese starlet has only missed four games through injury in his senior career over the past two seasons.
This suggests that he would have been given plenty of opportunities in the first-team at Carrow Road if he had stayed in Norfolk, given the constant injury problems in his position.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing, though, and it looked like a move that made sense for all parties when he moved on from Norwich.
Hopefully, Montóia continues to enjoy a successful career and the Canaries find the left-back that they desperately need this summer.
