I must resist the urge to get excited about a player we haven’t signed and that id never heard of before yesterday and I’ve only watched a total of 10mins of his highlights
Try as we may, it's difficult not to get excited about this. According to the Pinkun, the situation is very positive: "Norwich City are in pole position to sign Danish international attacker Mathias Kvistgaarden, but still face stiff competition to get a deal over the line. The Canaries are hoping to fight off intense interest in the 23-year-old, with Tipsbladet reporting on Friday afternoon that Kvistgaarden has favoured a move to Carrow Road over Ligue 1 side Lens, who made an offer to sign the 23-year-old. Further reports in France have indicated that Lens are now targeting other striking options, with Kvistgaarden informing them he wishes to move to England. It's understood that no final agreement between the clubs has been reached, but those reports in Denmark say Norwich have submitted a bid, and confidence is growing that a deal can be reached to allow long-term target Kvistgaarden to move to the Championship. There remains interest in Kvistgaarden from Eintracht Frankfurt, who are preparing to play in next season's Champions League, whilst Lazio, West Ham and Celtic have also been linked to the Dane. Norwich are fighting hard to convince Kvistgaarden that Carrow Road is the best place for his development, and that work is ongoing." https://www.pinkun.com/sport/norwich-city/25291299.norwich-city-pole-position-kvistgaarden-signing/ This would be a big decision for Knapper, considering our previous failures with big money signings, but it may also indicate that he's confident that a deal for Sainz is likely now. Here's hoping and I think it's time to have another look at that compilation video.
It is hopefully a potential look at how we can hope to build through sales of improved assets. Buy a player at a low cost/free in Sainz, spend 18months improving him and then sell for significant profit. The difference from the previous ownership is to then reinvest a much larger proportion of the transfer fee in the replacement signing. Previously that money would have been needed to fill a black hole in the clubs funding. Hopefully that replacement player will improve and then we can sell for more again. Rinse and repeat to build an improved squad.
That seemed very much the model last year but does it apply to this window so far? Grimshaw(27), Darling(25), Medić(26), Kovačević(27) are all in or approaching their prime. Moulden(23) on a free might fit that approach, but he's coming in as our third choice keeper - hardly a hot prospect. The others are much more in the mold of the Webber/Farke era of players available on a free or a reasonable fee because their career path has taken a dip and we're looking to help them recover. Any hope of cashing in down the line rests on last year's signings or those of Sargent or Sainz from the Webber era. The difference now may be due to either the Attanasio takeover or Manning's 'here and now' approach, or both. This doesn't look like another '3 year transition', but signings aimed at success now and that's a good thing IMO. Our interest in Kvistgaarden seems somewhere in between the two approaches, more like the signing of Sargent than Rashica, we hope, but there are no guarantees. Some of the excitement lies in the uncertainty.
I think it’s a blend of both approaches, last year I think the experienced players were on the side of too old. We’ve now brought in experience players heading into their prime years, who can drive forward with the younger players. In terms of the goalkeepers they age slightly differently - 27 is still relatively young in goalkeeping terms. Increasingly the Championship appears to be a league which is looked at by the top leagues for players as shown by the likes of Gyokares, Bellingham, Sara etc.
Porto in for Sainz at £13m plus add ons. Is this a realistic price? If I remember correctly, Rowe has just had his loan deal made permanent by Marseille for about the same amount?
PinkUn reporting that Mathias Kvistgaarden has been left out of the Brondby squad for their friendly match today. Looks like he may well be in the move somewhere… Interestlingly I read something on X from someone who is a Norwich fan and a season ticket holder at Brondby. They expected him to move to a higher level than Championship, also though that he was better through the middle than on the wing.
It's looking like the progress on Sainz to Porto for over €15m has allowed Knapper to pursue a Kvistgaarden breakthrough. It may depend on how reliable the rumours about him choosing us and personal terms being agreed are. Now his absence from the friendly adds to that. EDIT: Kvistgaarden was definitely left out of the friendly lineup according to Flashscore (2-1 to Brøndby).
Meanwhile, it seems Knapper now has another iron in the fire according to the Pinkun: "NCFC have reportedly started negotiations with Silkeborg about signing midfielder Pelle Mattsson. The English club have already sent an offer for around two million euros, approximately 15 million kroner, but for now, sports director Jesper Stüker has rejected the offer from Norwich." If true, Mattsson(23) is a CM who can also play as a DM.
