Ben Knapper has confirmed Norwich City‘s plans for star player Josh Sargent in January as the club begins life under Phillipe Clement.
The Canaries appointed the former Rangers man this week as the replacement to Liam Manning following their dire start to the season. The Belgian is set to take charge of his first game this weekend as they travel to Birmingham City and seek to win after 12 matches without tasting victory in the Championship.
Knapper Discusses Transfer Business
In a new interview with the Pink Un’, Sporting Director Ben Knapper has opened up on the club’s transfer dealings in the past few months, notably on the sale of Marcelino Nunez to arch-rivals Ipswich Town. Knapper, who has been under pressure from the fanbase in the past few months, backed his decision to move the Chilean on, even if it was to Portman Road.
“It was a really difficult decision, and in this role I’m faced with with them frequently. I don’t think I’ve got them all right by any stretch of the imagination, but if I had my time again, I think I would make the same decision on that.
“It wasn’t a decision that I took lightly at the time. I knew that it was going to be tough for people to understand and it was going to be an emotive one, of course.
“But let’s be clear, Marcelino is a player who we made multiple advances to re-sign at this club. We didn’t want to see him leave. We wanted to continue to work with him and he made it clear that he didn’t.
“On top of that, he made it clear that he wanted to go and play for our biggest rival. As soon as he said that, I felt his position in this group was somewhat untenable.”
Nunez played a substitute role in Town’s win in the East Anglian derby earlier this campaign, ending a 16-year wait for Suffolk to get one over on Norfolk, and taunted the Canaries fans following the victory on the banks of the River Orwell.
Josh Sargent Worries Ended
However, perhaps the biggest piece of news from the interview was the revelation that Josh Sargent is certain to stay at Carrow Road for the remainder of the season, with Knapper stating:
“You can never give guarantees of what’s going to happen, of course, but I think it would be extremely difficult to think of a world where Josh Sargent leaves us mid-season.”
The American international was subject to plenty of interest over the summer, with a proposed move back to Germany with Wolfsburg collapsing late in the window after he rejected their bid. He has since stated he is happy at Norwich, telling BBC Radio Norfolk he is committed to improving the fortunes of the Canaries this season.
