Norwich City confirm big player blow - many Canaries fans left unhappy at 'baffling' situation | OneFootball

Norwich City supporters have taken to social media to react to the news that winger Papa Amadou Diallo could be out for up to four months.

It has been a tricky start to life as Norwich City head coach for Liam Manning, and he has been dealt a fresh blow with the news that winger Papa Amadou Diallo could be out for up to four months due to injury.

After guiding Bristol City to a sixth-placed finish in the Championship last season, Manning departed Ashton Gate to take over at Norwich in June, and his arrival generated plenty of excitement among the Carrow Road faithful.

Manning was given strong backing during the summer transfer window as the Canaries brought in a total of 11 new signings, including big-money additions such as Diallo, Mirko Topic and Mathias Kvistgaarden, while they also managed to keep hold of star striker Josh Sargent.

However, Manning is already coming under pressure from Norwich supporters after losing all of his first four home games, with the latest defeat coming as his side were beaten 3-2 by Wrexham on Saturday, and the 40-year-old is also having to contend with an increasing injury list.

Manning confirmed last week that the Canaries will be striker Kvistgaarden for six weeks due to a knee injury, while defender Ben Chrisene is facing eight weeks on the sidelines with a hamstring problem, and Diallo has now become the latest player to enter the treatment room.

Norwich fought off strong competition from fellow Championship side Watford to sign Diallo from French outfit Metz for an initial fee of £4.3 million this summer, and the 21-year-old has impressed during the early stages of his time in East Anglia, providing two assists in seven appearances so far.

Liam Manning confirms big Papa Amadou Diallo, Norwich City injury blow

Speaking in his pre-match press conference ahead of the trip to Stoke City on Saturday, Manning confirmed that Diallo requires surgery on a quad issue and could be unavailable for up to four months, and he also revealed that he will review his training methods in an attempt to work out why his players are sustaining so many injuries.

"Very disappointing," Manning told the Pink Un.

"Papa will be out a considerable amount of time, to be fair. I’m always conscious of putting exact dates and timeframes on it, because ultimately you have to work off how they respond to treatment, but you're talking three to four months.

"Of course it doesn't help in trying to find that consistency. We want as many available to pick from as possible. But you look at the game as a whole and the large number of injuries. There's a huge amount of work that goes into finding out why that is the case. It's always difficult to pinpoint one factor.

"You're going to pick up contact injuries. Mathias’ one was a freak landing. There's obviously other bits where we have to look into how to make sure the programme we run is better, and understand why these injuries happen. There's bits going on behind the scenes we have to be better.

“But it wasn't a loading issue with Papa when you look at it. This is on everybody. We all have to look at what we deliver and why. Papa is obviously new to the league, but there were no flags, no issues with him. Unfortunately it was too much.

"I've been really pleased how he’d adapted and settled into life here. I thought he'd shown some really exciting moments. We’re not writing him off completely. This period is also an opportunity to look at the aspects off the pitch, improving his English, adapting to the country and the league. He can come back bigger and stronger from it."

Norwich City supporters react to frustrating Papa Amadou Diallo injury update

As Diallo joined Chrisene and Kvistgaarden on Norwich's ever-growing list of absentees, supporters took to X to express their frustration in response to a post by BBC journalist Rob Butler announcing the news, and many questioned why the club's injury problems have continued into the new campaign after a similar situation occurred last season.

With the Canaries already struggling for form even with some of their key players available, some revealed their concerns about what could happen as their squad continues to be depleted.

Norwich sporting director Ben Knapper has come in for plenty of criticism in recent times, most notably for his decision to sell star midfielder Marcelino Nunez to bitter rivals Ipswich Town, and one supporter turned their anger on him after another summer signing was ruled out for an extended period due to injury.