Borja Sainz tipped for "£20 million" Norwich City summer exit instead of Josh Sargent | OneFootball

FLW's Canaries fan pundit would prefer Borja Sainz to leave over key striker Sargent

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...

FLW's Norwich fan pundit would prefer to see Championship top-scorer Borja Sainz depart Carrow Road this summer over striker Josh Sargent, and believes that the Spaniard will fetch a fee of at least £20 million if he is to leave ahead of next season.

Sainz was a standout in the second-tier in the opening stages of this season, with his 15 league goals before the end of November placing him clear at the top of the scoring charts, despite Norwich failing to truly push for the top six this term.

The versatile forward understandably attracted transfer attention in January as a result of his impressive performances, with Serie A outfit Napoli linked with a move alongside interest from Girona in his native Spain and previous reports of both Galatasaray and Atlético Madrid being ready to make an approach to the Canaries.

His form took a downturn in the months leading up to his six-game ban for spitting in December, but he has been back amongst the goals in recent weeks and will be looking to fire Johannes Hoff Thorup's side to a strong finish to the season in the coming weeks, with a potential big-money move away on the horizon in the summer.

Canaries fan pundit offers Borja Sainz exit verdict amid £20m price-tag demand

Norwich have been wholly inconsistent as a team this term, with few players other than Sainz proving that they can consistently impress over a period of games. USA international striker Josh Sargent is one of those, with his impressive performances and 12 strikes in 24 league games being key to their good fortunes so far.

Sainz' oustanding season began to falter in the lead-up to his suspension, and he failed to get back on track in the immediate aftermath of his return before finally netting his first goal in over three months last week against Sheffield Wednesday.

The 24-year-old followed that up with another strike against Bristol City last time out, and now looks to be back playing similarly to his early-season self as the Championship campaign draws to a close. His successive goals were unable to stop the Canaries from losing against the Owls and the Robins, however, and their play-off hopes look all but over with eight league games left.

Teams will continue to be interested in securing his signature in the summer, regardless of any current form, after he was electric in the early parts of the campaign and picked up the Championship Player of the Month award for both September and October.

FLW's Norwich fan pundit, Zeke Downes, would prefer Sainz to leave over key frontman Sargent ahead of next season, and believes that the Canaries should be able to fetch a fee of around £20m for his services if he is to depart Carrow Road in the coming months.

“I think Borja Sainz and Josh Sargent would be pretty much level for their potential transfer fees," Zeke told FLW.

“You’re probably looking at £20 million, maybe £25 million at a push, but the fact that we let Gabriel Sara go for £20m, when he was maybe more talented and he did more as well over that season, I think that’s probably how much we would get.

“As much as I’d like for us to get £25m, I think it’s more likely to be £20m, and then we could then buy two or three players, maybe even four or five actually, for that money that we would get from Sainz.

“We could then replace players like Shane Duffy. We’d need a new keeper, a back-up striker, and to replace Jacob Sorensen and Onel Hernandez, although their replacements may already be in the building in the forms of Jacob Wright and Matej Jurasek.

“I would rather keep Sainz and Sargent, but if we were to let one leave, it would be him (Sainz).”

Norwich have a big decision to make regarding Borja Sainz' future

Norwich look unlikely to win promotion to the Premier League this season, but their long-term hopes of going up absolutely hinge on keeping players like Sainz around at Carrow Road.

That means that they must immediately address his contract situation though, as well as fellow key man Marcelino Nunez, with their respective deals each set to expire in 2026. The Canaries' sporting director Ben Knapper last month revealed to the PinkUn that conversations with both players were ongoing, and the club was "relaxed" about each of their futures as it stands.

Sainz' may have struggled as of late, but his recent return to the scoresheet has proven that he is still a top player in the second-tier when he wants to be.

His form from the start of the campaign is not the kind that disappears overnight, and Norwich must make a decision soon over whether they want to sell or try to keep him this summer, no matter what happens regarding his contract situation.

The interest from top-flight clubs from across Europe does make it feel somewhat inevitable that he will push for a move after the campaign ends, with the Canaries' promotion hopes now seemingly diminished after a run of just one win in their last eight league games.

Norwich will want whatever is set to happen, to happen quickly, as they will need to get their priorities in order ahead of next season, where they will likely want to stage a real push for promotion with a settled squad under Hoff Thorup.