Norwich City urged to seal transfer for 23-year-old "sooner rather than later" | OneFootball

FLW's Canaries fan pundit feels that getting deals done quickly is the key to early-season success

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 enjoyed a solid transfer window this summer, and nine arrivals so far, along with Liam Manning being announced as their new manager, has many Canaries fans happy with their overall squad going into their Championship opener against Millwall.

Norwich may be making it 10 new faces through the door sometime soon, too, after they improved their offer to sign Pelle Mattson from Danish Superliga side Silkeborg.

It's a transfer saga which has gone on for a few weeks now, after the Danish side rejected Norwich's initial bid of £1.75 million earlier in July. Now, the Canaries are looking to get the deal over the line for around £2.6 million.

Mattsson would add to an already impressive midfield core, which includes the likes of Jacob Wright, Marcelino Núñez and Kenny McLean, although FLW's Norwich fan pundit, Zeke Downes, believes that the 23-year-old's imminent arrival could spell the end for either Núñez or McLean.

He also feels that, if the deal is to be done, getting it over the line "sooner rather than later" will be the key, as Manning looks to figure out his starting eleven ahead of the new campaign.

Norwich City fan pundit has his say on Pelle Mattson transfer links

When asked which one player he would like his club to sign before the end of the summer window, Downes did mention a winger, but didn't know who, exactly.

"If I were to go for another guy, it would be Mattsson from Silkeborg," he told Football League World.

"We've been looking at him for a while now, and now the deal looks to be getting over the line. I wonder if that's because they're thinking in their minds that either Núñez or McLean are leaving, as we've got quite a few options now in midfield.

"Obviously they're wanting that specific type [of midfielder] and he's one they're really keen on."

Wright signed permanently from Manchester City this summer after proving solid in the latter half of the season on loan at Carrow Road. You'd expect the 19-year-old to be the main holding midfielder under Manning, with the likes of McLean, Núñez, and Anis Slimane to challenge Mattsson for the spot alongside him, if Manning plays with two in midfield.

If Mattson were to join up with Norwich this summer, Downes wants it done "sooner rather than later."

He continued, "Obviously, we've done most of our dealings really quickly, and this one's a little slower.

"It's not the end of the world, but we'd like to get him in, and then we can have a little more time to see what the starting eleven is like because we've signed a lot of players.

"It's hard to see what [the starting eleven] will be as we have options in every position now, so it will be very interesting."

Liam Manning has plenty of tools at his disposal at Norwich City

Despite the departure of Borja Sainz, there's an argument to be made that Norwich comes into the 2025/26 campaign with a more well-rounded, stronger side.

Having Manning at the helm gives them a good advantage, and as Downes referred to; there is plenty of competition across the whole squad, which can only be a good thing.

Across a 46-game season, having a healthy squad depth is key to sustaining quality performances, and you'd expect the new Canaries boss to provide opportunities to impress throughout the campaign.

If Mattssen does arrive, it'll be intriguing to see if Norwich do end up offloading any of their current midfielders before the end of the window. But if Manning can afford to keep the main core from last season, then it'll be hard to deny Norwich from making another run at the top six next term due to the sheer quality of depth they'll have.