"At our level" - Onel Hernandez and 4 other potential Norwich City summer departures named | OneFootball

The Cuban international's spell at Carrow Road could be coming to an end this summer

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…

With just a couple of months of the 2024/25 campaign left to play, EFL clubs will already have one eye on which players they will be retaining for the following season, with big decisions having to be made between now and the summer.

Players will be coming to the end of their contracts, loan stars will be returning to their parent clubs, and interested clubs will come sniffing around for top talent, such is the case with a footballing summer.

Norwich City could be a side that sees a number of players wave their goodbyes to Carrow Road once all is said and done in May, with Johannes Hoff Thorup likely wanting to put even more of a stamp on his side during the off-season.

With that in mind, we spoke to Football League World’s resident Canaries fan Zeke Downes about who he thinks could be out the door this summer.

Norwich City face Onel Hernandez decision as three other out-of-contract players named

The Norfolk side have a quintet of stars set to be out of contract this summer, with Onel Hernandez one of the players who could well be entering the final few days of life as a Canary.

The Cuban hasn’t featured since being substituted at half-time in last month’s 5-1 victory over Swansea City, with reports of a short-term knee injury keeping him on the sidelines.

Having been on the books at Carrow Road for over seven years, Hernandez has become a popular figure in East Anglia, with over 200 appearances in yellow and green to his name during that time.

City still have the option of extending his current deal by another year, and Downes is unsure whether the club’s hierarchy will choose to add another 12 months to his contract in the weeks to come.

It is a similar story for Jacob Sorensen and Emiliano Marcondes in terms of having an elongation of their current dangling there in front of them, while Tony Springett and Angus Gunn are also closing in on judgement day.

When asked about possible departures, the Norwich fan pundit said: “The only players I could see leaving the club are the ones that are at the end of their contracts. So you have Jacob Sorensen, Onel Hernandez possibly… although I could see him maybe given another year, but he isn’t really at our level.

“Tony Springett, of course, and then also Angus Gunn perhaps. I’m not sure whether we are going to be offering him another contract, he has not really been good enough in the last year to warrant that, so I don’t know whether that is going to happen.”

Josh Sargent, Borja Sainz prediction made while Norwich City ponder loan star futures

There is likely to be no shortage of interest in both Borja Sainz and Josh Sargent this summer, with both regularly getting on the scoresheet and contributing towards most of what Norwich do well in the final third over the course of the campaign.

Sainz has 15 league goals to his name this season and Sargent 11, with reported interest from around the continent gathering as the two stars continue to run rampage in the second tier.

City would love to play hardball for their dynamic duo this summer, but it will be hard to resist letting at least one of their main marksman depart the club, especially when extravagant sumes of money start getting bandied about.

Downes continued: “In regards to players being sold, I don’t think Josh Sargent will be but I think Borja Sainz will.”

Decisions will also need to be made about loan players, with Thorup borrowing a number of young Premier League stars to bolster his options this season, with the likes of Manchester City duo Callum Doyle and Jacob Wright contributing to the team effort, as well as Aston Villa’s Lewis Dobbin.

Wright is said to have a £5 million obligatory fee inserted into his deal if certain conditions are met - according to transfer buff Fabrizio Romano - while a Norwich old boy could help his former side seal some summer deals four years after his departure from Carrow Road.

“You have the players going back on loan, so Callum Doyle I think will 100% be leaving, as we won’t be able to afford that price, that’s why we have got Ruairi McConville in to replace him,” Downes added.

“I think we will sign Jacob Wright on a permanent deal because there is no reason why we would sign him on loan if it wasn’t to think about having him on a permanent deal.

"Then with Lewis Dobbin, it could go either way. I think it depends on Aston Villa and who they let go. If they let go of Emi Buendia and we get the money for him, then we could perhaps buy him, but that is probably 50/50.”