Norwich City suffer transfer blow as potential West Ham deal looks to be scuppered | OneFootball

Andy Irving isn't set to arrive at Carrow Road after initial transfer rumours

Norwich City will not be pursuing a transfer move for West Ham United midfielder, Andy Irving, after the Scot was initially linked with a potential switch to Carrow Road from the London Stadium.

That is according to the Pink'Un, who have also relayed comments from Canaries head coach, Philippe Clement, regarding his transfer strategy between now and the close of business, which is 7PM on Monday, February 2nd.

It has been an extremely frustrating and unexpected first 26 games of the season for the East Anglian side, who moved to appoint the former AS Monaco, Club Brugge and Glasgow Rangers boss in mid-November following the disastrously short-lived reign of his predecessor and Norwich-born boss, Liam Manning

Clement has overseen a relative upsurge in recent weeks, with Norwich starting to pick up some form at Carrow Road, where they had failed to win throughout Manning's tenure in all competitions, and they are currently one point adrift of Championship safety heading into this weekend's trip to Wrexham.

However, it remains to be seen if City can keep their nearest rivals, Portsmouth, at arms' length, with John Mousinho's side having two games in hand.

As such, plenty of transfer discourse has emerged out of Carrow Road on both the incomings and outgoings front, with the club in desperate need for reinforcements across a handful of departments to stand a chance of avoiding a first drop into League One for 16 years.

During Clement's first transfer window in charge of the club, the only addition to his ranks thus far has come in the form of left-winger Ali Ahmed, who penned a three-and-a-half year contract after signing from Major League Soccer club, Vancouver Whitecaps.

There has, of course, been plenty of talk of City's prized asset, Josh Sargent, moving the other way, with Clement dropping a bombshell last weekend by declaring the USMNT striker made himself unavailable against Walsall amid interest from Toronto FC.

In the meantime, though, Irving had become one of a handful of players linked with a potential move to the Championship club, whilst his current employers are also in relegation danger, sitting seven points adrift of safety in the Premier League.

However, such links have since been quashed, with Norwich now having to turn their attention to other creative targets.

Norwich City links to West Ham United midfielder Andy Irving quashed

Irving has endured a mixed time at the London Stadium since joining from SK Austria Klagenfurt in the summer of 2023 under David Moyes for a reported £500,000.

After spending the entirety of the subsequent season on loan with the Austrian side, the former Hearts midfielder eventually made his Hammers debut in October 2024 in a 3-0 defeat against Chelsea under Julen Lopetegui.

Since becoming the subject of the aforementioned intriguing transfer agreement, though, Irving has made just 18 competitive appearances for the Irons under three different head coaches, with Nuno Espírito Santo now at the helm despite already facing intense scrutiny after failing to address the club's perilous position.

The 25-year-old, who has one Scotland cap to his name, was heavily linked with a move away to newly-promoted Wrexham in the summer, although the Red Dragons saw a reported £3.5m deal collapse late in the window, whilst it was said that their interest in Irving had been renewed in the lead-up to the current window.

It was reported earlier in the week that Norwich were amongst a host of clubs looking to acquire the Edinburgh native's services after he was named as an unused substitute in the Hammers' FA Cup win over Queens Park Rangers on Sunday.

However, a deal between the two parties appears to be dead in the water due to rival interest, meaning Clement must turn his attention elsewhere.

Whilst it is unclear whether a move for Irving would have been on a loan or permanent basis, it is clear that the City boss is eyeing more of the latter when it comes to striking deals to bolster his squad.

"I'm not a favourite of several loans in the club, because then you need to restart the story every six months or every year," said Clement.

"We don't have a squad like that now. I prefer permanent, of course, like everybody does, and also the club and the owners, because then you're not working for somebody else. If you develop a player well, he goes up in value and you can win out of that value."

As such, it is clear that Clement is looking to acquire players who can develop along with the club in the long-term, which perhaps explains why links to Perth Glory's Tom Lawrence were ruled out, despite the 32-year-old working under the Belgian at Rangers.