Goalkeepers Krul - Keep if he wants to be here and there's no big money offer. If he's worried about his world cup spot and wants a move, then fair enough at the right price. Gunn - Keep McGovern - Keep I guess? Defenders Aarons - Sell to fund the rest of our business Byram - Keep Mumba - Keep Hanley - Keep, but if a proper bid comes in for him then I think we have to consider it. At 30, he's not going to increase in value and he's got some credit from this season that could tempt a bid. Gibson - Keep, but perhaps Smith thinks otherwise. Perhaps his wages/playing time/value won't stack up for a presumably 3rd/4th choice CB next season. Omobamidele - Keep, likely first team regular. Zimmerman - Sell if someone wants him, good character around the camp otherwise. Farke getting a job at Blackburn, etc and wanting his lieutenant might suit everyone nicely. Giannoulis - Keep unless a big bid comes in McCallum - Assess, and keep or sell. Not sure another loan Midfielders McLean - Keep, but ideally not as a first choice starter. PLM - Keep if he wants to be here, cut our losses if not, unlikely to lose much money on him. Feel like his usefulness depends on how Smith wants to play. Sorensen - Keep, but I'm wary as neither manager this season has been keen to play him despite our lack of DM options. Good age and inexpensive depth, even if the fans want to see more of him than that. Rupp - appears to be leaving at the end of the season, probably the right decision. Could perhaps get a Championship season out of him, but he's distinctly "end of cycle". Adshead - Assess in pre-season, loan to a higher level if Smith doesn't want him immediately. Wide players Dowell - Keep and lock him in the gym all summer. Tzolis - No idea. Sell and cut out losses? Loan out and hope he gets some confidence? Give him a full pre-season, show confidence in him and watch him boss the Championship? Absolutely no idea. Being behind Placheta, Rowe and Springett in the pecking order is not exactly reassuring. Placheta - Sell if possible, loan otherwise. Just doesn't feel like he's going to break through here. Not sure we can afford to give him the gametime to develop. Rashica - Keep if he's committed, we can't afford him to be anything less than a major player. Needs significantly more output. Cantwell - Sell. Too much of a circus for the 10% chance his head's in the right place for a meaningful number of games. Hernandez - Sell, not exactly impressing at Birmingham outside of a brief hot streak in February. Rowe - Keep, but we can't afford to plan for him to be a big component of next season. He's a bonus. Springett - As Rowe. Martin - I hadn't noticed he'd quietly started to impress at Doncaster. 3 goals and an assist in the last 5 games of the season, for a team 23rd in League One. Second highest rated player on their team. I think he should get a chance in pre-season. Not sure there's space in the squad for Rowe, Springett, Martin, Tzolis and Placheta to all be bit-part players. Forwards Sargent - Keep, lock him in the Soccerbot working on first touch and finishing. Pukki - Keep Idah - Keep Sinani - Not sure it's our choice, Huddersfield probably take up their option to sign him cheaply. Think he should get pre-season. Hugill - Poor at WBA, better at Cardiff but still not great. Smith's choice I think. I wouldn't want us to be short of striker options given Idah's injury record, especially if we want to play 4-4-2.
Midfield (and wide players) are really the key decisions for next season in my opinion. Rashica could tempt a few bids this summer meaning more opportunities for Rowe and Tzolis. I'm hoping we see more of Rowe regardless. I see him and possibly O'Dele as our next significant transfer incomes (after Aarons). No pressure!! Tzolis seems like a gamble to keep after this season's disappointment, but with careful management a season in the Championship could be just what he needs to get his confidence up again. So many people have raved about his ability and potential, but then I remember a similar fuss about Felix Passlack when he joined us. Probably means no squad room for 3 from Placheta, Cantwell, Hernandez, Springett, Martin, Hugill, Sinani, Soto, Adshead.
My guess is that we'll see very little spending this summer, so Smith will be expected to get the most out of the squad we've got, even if Aarons leaves. My guess is a 4-3-3 most of the time with a midfielder coming in to replace Rupp and a quality DM added. Our low wage structure allows us to keep players after relegation and this is a real chance to develop young players like Rowe and Springett, but also others like Sargent, Idah, Placheta, Tzolis, Omobamidele, Sørensen and Martin.
I would hope that if we sell Aarons for, say, £15m or so plus try and recoup a little on Cantwell - maybe £5m - that will be enough for the Club to give Smith a reasonable pot by Championship standards. The one thing I think is they MUST NOT spread the funds thinly like last summer. Paying a pretty penny for a battling midfielder is critical. We need someone who has at least a prospect of doing a job for us if we manage to get promoted again. I am not convinced we need any other players - maybe even two battling midfielders to spread risk a bit. From a Championship perspective I feel like we are pretty well stocked throughout, helped by the spread of youngsters coming through in almost all positions.
One of the only good things about this season , manager and squad is that I don't have that sense of dread that our Star player will be sold like Maddisson or Buendia. I would wish Aarons well when he's sold but wouldn't be bothered if anyone else leaves . Pukki at 32 I feel was the goose that laid golden eggs but we squeezed pretty much all he has left . Another good season and promotion and it would be madness to expect it to work 3rd time round . We desperately need a goalscorer for the next few years hopefully Idah and Sargent start performing and getting double figures because we don't have £20m plus to buy the finished product
Even if it's not another striker, we just need someone else to step up and be a source of goals. Whether that's a member of the existing squad or someone brought in. Since March 2020, the top goalscorer at Carrow Road after Pukki is Michael Antonio.
7 goals 3 assists in 41 games isn't amazing. Surely there was add ons for promotion ? He was a free signing for us so if he wants to continue his career with Huddersfield then best of luck to him. Turning over players for a modest profit or to integrate into the first team is part of the business model .
If you believe the comments on that tweet then the fee is agreed at around £1.5m. I think that's fair for a player nobody was worried about holding onto last summer, who would be a bit-part player if he stayed next season. Signed on a free, loaned out so we haven't been paying his wages, sold for profit. Proves to other players that Norwich can be positive for their career. Not too much to worry about for me.
Norwich are reportedly interested in signing West Brom defender Cedric Kipre this Summer. Baggies are willing to listen to offers for the 25 year old, who is keen to leave after falling out of favour with Steve Bruce since he arrived. Birminghan Mail are reporting Norwich have shown an interest in Kipre. a fee of £1m is believed to be enough to sign the Ivory Coast U23 international.
He was a youth player with Leicester when he first came into English football; Craig Shakespeare will likely know all about him.
Why should we be interested in Championship WBA Cedric Kipre when he can’t get into their starting XI? Too many mistakes made recently on cheap deals.
Yeah the cheap signings haven't really been the problem, it goes wrong when we try and spend money! Whoscored think Kipre has 'very weak concentration' and weak passing. He'll fit right in!
WBA will likely be a major competitor of ours next season. Why would we conSider signing a player the think not good enough for theirselves? Not logical.
