"A massive problem now" - Norwich City urged to complete January swoop following Josh Sargent blow | OneFootball

We asked our Norwich City fan pundit if there was a transfer demand for the Canaries' owner in January

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Norwich City have been told to sign a striker when the January transfer window opens following Josh Sargent's recent injury blow.

The Canaries' USA international striker will be out of action until the new year as he needs surgery on a groin injury, and it's set to be a big blow for Johannes Hoff Thorup's side given Sargent's goals this season.

The 24-year-old had scored four goals and registered five assists in 12 Championship appearances this season, and his absence will be sorely missed by the Canaries, particularly with veteran attacker Ashley Barnes also currently sidelined and is yet to make an appearance in 2024-25.

This means that the pressure is on summer signing Ante Crnac to really start delivering in front of goal, with the forward yet to fully find his feet in English football, and Norwich have now been told to add a new striker to their ranks when the transfer window opens in January to make sure they have enough depth to cope with a future Sargent absence.

Norwich City told to sign a striker in the January transfer window

We asked our Norwich City fan pundit, Zeke Downes, if he had any transfer demands for his side's owners in January, and it's clear that he feels that signing a new striker must be a priority.

Speaking to Football League World, Zeke said: "The key one in my mind for a transfer in the January window would be a striker.

"I think that’s a massive problem now. It already was, but it was papered over by the fact that Sargent was not injured, but now that he is, we’ve got no other striker.

"Obviously, we’ve got Barnes to come back, but he’s not a goalscorer or really a creator, he’s just there to facilitate really and holds up the play, so we definitely need a striker because we’re going to be relying on Crnac, and he’s only got the one goal so far.

"He’s not played up front until last weekend, but he does need to kick on or else we’re going to be relying on the goals from Sainz, and most of Sainz’s goals are long-range strikes with very little xG, so it’s not really sustainable.

"As long as he keeps scoring those we should be okay, but we are needing to get goals from other players on the pitch and not just him.”

Losing Josh Sargent is a huge blow for Norwich City

Since joining Norwich from Werder Bremen in 2021, Sargent has become a reliable goalscorer for the Canaries, and nine goal involvements in 12 league games this season shows how important he is to Thorup's side.

The 24-year-old scored 16 league goals in 26 appearances last season, a very impressive return, and had he not been injured then surely he'd have been competing for the Championship Golden Boot award.

It's no exaggeration to say that Sargent is one of the best strikers in the division, and any side would miss his quality. Thankfully for Norwich, Sainz is in terrific form and scoring on a regular basis, but as Zeke alluded to, his catalogue of long-range strikes isn't sustainable in the long-term.