Norwich City facing £8.5m issue - Liam Manning must find solution | OneFootball

Ante Crnac has yet to truly build on a steady debut campaign at Carrow Road

With Borja Sainz out of the door this past summer, the 2025/26 season was looking like one that Ante Crnac could have really kicked on for Norwich City.

However, through the first month of the campaign, the Croat has yet to get off the scoring or assisting mark in the Championship.

The 21-year-old was bought for £8.5 million last summer from Polish side Rakow, and a fee of that magnitude in the Championship usually garners plenty of attention and expectation, but his first season in the Norwich yellow and green went quite under the radar.

Borja Sainz's goalscoring antics in an attacking midfield role, combined with Josh Sargent's usual flurry of goals, meant that Crnac's seven-goal, five-assist debut campaign wasn't looked at too much.

But with one of those two now excelling at Porto, the expectations to improve have been more intense for Crnac than they perhaps usually are for a young, versatile attacker, and five games into the new season, the 21-year-old is yet to meet those.

Ante Crnac hasn't kicked on just yet in the 2025/26 Championship season

Ante Crnac has been a key part of Liam Manning's first month in charge at Norwich, starting all five Championship games to date.

Whilst Josh Sargent's excellence has taken centre stage, netting five of the side's seven league goals so far, it has meant that the likes of Crnac haven't been able to make much of an impact in the goalscoring department.

The young Croat has generated 0.8 expected goals and 0.79 expected assists through five games, which is fine, but when compared to the numbers of Borja Sainz this time last season, it leaves a lot to be desired.

That's not to say that Crnac will immediately fill the goalscoring void left by the Spaniard, but perhaps the pressure to kick on and help contribute to goals is stopping him from truly breaking out to start this season.

After a mixed bag of results, Liam Manning's side sits on seven points. The former Bristol City manager will know that his side needs to settle and improve in the near future if he is to earn a personal second successive play-off finish, and perhaps switching up those who play behind Sargent could be the key to doing so.

Patience has to be the key for Ante Crnac at Norwich City this season

Whilst Crnac's early-season goals and assists numbers don't make for pretty viewing, there shouldn't be any need for rash decisions surrounding dropping the winger, as he is showing some promise of at least replicating the numbers of his debut campaign.

According to Fotmob, Crnac took just 33 shots in 38 Championship appearances last season, compared to 10 already this year. His expected assists number was only 2.95 in the 2024/25 campaign, and he is well on his way to beating that if he keeps his creativity up throughout this term.

So, whilst the 21-year-old and the Norwich fans will be hoping for these early-season stats to translate into goal contributions sooner rather than later, they can take comfort in knowing that he is contributing to the Canaries' frontline adequately, and he isn't just taking up a space in the starting eleven.