Norwich 'not scared' to sell players

Published on: 14 May 2021

Stuart Webber joined Norwich from Huddersfield in 2017

Norwich City sporting director Stuart Webber says the possibility of selling key players "doesn't scare" them as they prepare for the Premier League.

Playmakers Emi Buendia and Todd Cantwell - and right-back Max Aarons - have all been linked with summer moves.

But Webber says it would take a bid in excess of the £25m paid for Ben Godfrey last year for any of them to leave.

"It might be the end of the journey for some of them, it might be a club comes in that is off the scale," he said.

He added to BBC Look East: "One of them may go, maybe two or all three of them will go, who knows - but the facts are that this team isn't about one or two players. For us to be successful in the Premier League it's going to be how does the squad of 20 do, not if one player performs brilliantly.

"When we sold James Maddison [to Leicester] everyone thought it was the end of the world and then a guy called Emi Buendia turned up - when Ben Godfrey left [for Everton] it was the end of the world and a guy called Ben Gibson turned up, and that's football."

Championship title-winners Norwich have won promotion to the top flight for a fifth time, making an instant return following relegation last season.

    Are Norwich ready to lose their yo-yo tag?Name Norwich's double promotion dozen

Canaries to offer Farke new deal

Both Webber and head coach Daniel Farke have 12 months left on their contracts at Carrow Road and while Webber says he has "not thought about" his own future, things look clearer for the German.

"In terms of Daniel it's clear we will want to offer him a new contract and he's made indications that of course he loves it here and would like to stay," Webber told BBC Radio Norfolk.

"He's an ambitious guy so of course he wants to be at a club that's going to continue to grow and push forward, and we have to show him that that's the club's intention, and we will do, and I'd be confident that we'll get somewhere on that."

Farke has led Norwich to two Championship titles in his time at the club

In Norwich's last Premier League campaign, in 2019-20, they relied almost exclusively on loan deals and free transfers in terms of their recruitment, only paying a fee - of less than £1m - for former Leeds and West Ham full-back Sam Byram.

Webber accepts the club "didn't get recruitment right" last time and says they will have more money to spend this summer.

"In comparison to our competitors it'll probably be the equivalent of one player - but the fact is it'll give us a chance," he said.

"Unless you're willing to make mistakes, unless you're willing to take risks then we definitely can't grow.

"If we try and be safe and do the same as every other club then we will definitely lose out because we don't have the resource, so we have to take some risks, and with risks it can go wrong and it can go spectacularly right."

Source: bbc.com

This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website.
Learn more