Norwich City "have to keep" 30-year-old at Carrow Road after January transfer snub reveal | OneFootball

FLW's Norwich fan pundit has given his views on whether Emiliano Marcondes will depart the club in the coming weeks

As of right now, Emiliano Marcondes is still a Norwich City player, but will that be the case in a few months time?

The 30-year-old has been largely unfavoured at Carrow Road since Philippe Clement took the reins in November. Since the turn of the year, he's largely featured as an unused substitute or hasn't made it off the bench at all.

However, when given the green light to move on to a club in Germany during the recent winter window, the Pink Un reported that Marcondes - whose contract is up at the end of the season - turned down the opportunity.

But that doesn't exactly mean that the transfer saga surrounding the Dane is over, as numerous transfer windows in South America and some in Europe, namely Sweden, Norway and Ukraine, are still open.

That means that a move can still be made, and in an interview with Campo, Marcondes was coy about potentially moving elsewhere, saying that he was "slowly getting back into the team, and hopefully [he] can start playing again".

Norwich City urged to retain Emiliano Marcondes amidst injury crisis

And while Marcondes is right about slowly getting back into the team, that may be mainly down to the fact that Norwich's injury list currently knows no bounds, with free-scoring Australian international Mo Toure the latest to join an already packed treatment room.

He's now not expected back for around a month, which will bump the attacking midfielder up the pecking order even further.

As the 30-year-old is one of the remaining fit senior players at Carrow Road at the moment, FLW's Norwich fan pundit, Zeke Downes, believes that the club should be keeping him around, rather than sanctioning a move to one of the remaining leagues whose transfer windows are still open.

"I think with our injury crisis right now, I think we have to keep Marcondes," Downes told Football League World.

"Obviously, he's not in Clement's plans, but we're running quite low on options right now, so we will have to keep him.

"It looked the best thing for all parties for him to leave in January, but it didn't happen, so I think we just leave it as it is, and at the end of the season, we'll look at things again, and he'll likely leave then.

"But for now, I wouldn't let him go."

Norwich City may have to forfeit Emiliano Marcondes fee by keeping him at Carrow Road

Norwich are likely going to be one of the first sides to be hoping to be on the beach this season. While the performances and results under Philippe Clement have been excellent, the push for the play-offs may be a step too far, and the focus now is on being safe as quickly as possible.

To avoid being dragged into a potential relegation scrap come the end of April and bleeding into the start of May, they'll need all hands on deck and as many senior names fit as possible.

Therefore, Marcondes may be kept around as a useful backup in case the worst happens and the Canaries' injury woes mount up even further, and this will come at a cost of losing him for free come the summer.

Likely, the 30-year-old won't be signing a contract extension at Carrow Road when his contract reportedly ends at the end of the season, due to his role in the side as of late, so these last few weeks of the remaining open transfer windows represent the only time that the club can recoup some money for his services.

So, Norwich has a decision to make, and, as Downes said, the sensible choice would be to let go of any potential fee to ensure that he sticks around for the short term. And even then, there may be the slightest chance that a run in the side now could see him inserted into longer-term plans at the club.