- City have attempted to explore the South American market in recent years.
- Gabriel Sara was the club’s biggest success when recruiting from that region.
- The Canaries almost signed a star who is now one of Europe’s best players.
Norwich City have had some successes in the South American market with the signings of Gabriel Sara and Marcelino Nunez.
Whilst the less said about the latter the better, Sara was a huge success at Carrow Road after his move from Sao Paulo in 2022.
The Brazil international scored 21 goals and provided 17 assists in 96 games for the Canaries, before a £20m move to Galatasaray in the summer of 2024.
An untapped market in recent years
Norwich have not signed a player directly from South America since they brought Nunez and Sara in for Dean Smith in the summer of 2022.
That is not through a lack of trying, however, as we recently covered a story about them trying to sign Diego Gomez before he eventually made his way to Brighton in the Premier League.
However, ESC slots were not introduced until the summer of 2023, which meant that any signing from South America had to accrue enough points to get a work permit.
Now, Norwich have ESC slots available to use to do deals that they were unable to do in the past, which opens up more avenues for them to explore with their recruitment.
The Pink Un recently reported that the club continue to scout in South America and it could yet be a market that they look to buy from this summer.
Norwich are in the market for a centre-forward
It has been well reported that the Canaries are looking to add another centre-forward to their ranks in the upcoming summer transfer window.
Whilst it may depend on the future of Mathias Kvistgaarden, Philippe Clement seemingly wants to add an experienced number nine to compete with the younger Jovon Makama and Mohamed Toure.
Norwich attempted to sign Kasper Høgh from Bodo/Glimt during the January window, bidding £7m for his services, but their progression in the Champions League scuppered a deal.
Their pursuit of the Norwegian number nine shows that they are willing to commit significant money to a new forward signing, which could make for an exciting summer for Norwich supporters.
On the topic of South American recruitment and the need for a new centre-forward, it has now been revealed that Norwich once missed out on a South American striker who is now one of the world’s best.
Norwich missed out on deal for Julian Alvarez
Talent spotter Mariela Nisotaki, who spent eight years at Carrow Road, has claimed that the Canaries had a chance to sign Argentine centre-forward Julian Alvarez.
He started his career with River Plate in Argentina, scoring 54 goals in 122 games, before signing for Manchester City for £14.1m in January 2022.
Speaking to Gazzetta, Nisotaki said: “From South America, one player we had a chance with was (Atletico Madrid and Argentina striker) Julian Alvarez before he went to (Manchester) City.
She added: “There was also (Sven) Botman who is at Newcastle. He was actually at Norwich’s offices to sign, but they wanted to think it over with his manager and that summer (2020) he went to Lille.”
Whilst Botman, who won the League Cup with Newcastle last season, is a fantastic player, missing out on a deal for Alvarez is a bitter blow.
It is unclear exactly when Norwich could have signed the striker, as he joined City in January 2022, but he has gone on to have a phenomenal career.
Alvarez scored 36 goals in 103 games for Pep Guardiola before Atletico Madrid swooped in to sign him for £82m in the summer of 2024.
The Argentina international, who won the World Cup in 2022, has established himself as one of Europe’s top strikers since moving to Spain.
Alvarez has scored 49 goals and provided 17 assists in 106 games for Atletico, including ten goals in 15 Champions League matches this season.
What Clement would do for a striker like the 26-year-old superstar this summer…
