Norwich City missed out on West Brom transfer gold - but have hit Sheffield United jackpot instead | OneFootball

Andre Brooks has already proven to be a shrewd pickup for Philippe Clement

Norwich City have endured an indifferent start to Philippe Clement's first full season at Carrow Road, with the Canaries currently positioned 17th during the first international break of the campaign.

Having embarked on a remarkable run of form after the Belgian replaced Liam Manning last November following a disastrous start to the 2025/26 Championship season, many expected the Canaries to be able to continue such momentum in the season's early weeks.

However, that hasn't been the case, with Clement, yet again, seeing a handful of key first-team stars suffer major injury misfortune, such as exciting Canadian and Australian international forwards, Ali Ahmed and Mohamed Toure.

The East Anglian side have won three and lost five of their first eight matches this term, with it being clear that Clement's biggest strength is his attack, whilst there are certainly flaws which need to be ironed out in the defensive department in the weeks to come.

Only five additions were made to the squad at Carrow Road throughout the summer though, but it is fair to say that one of those has stood out from the rest with his early-season performances, meaning City will have little regrets over a high-profile transfer miss.

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With Clement previously able to get the best out of several players which such high ceilings following his appointment 10 months ago, it was perhaps not the greatest of surprises when Norwich were linked with more exciting talents in the summer transfer window.

Although it remains to be seen if the Canaries' interest went any further behind-the-scenes, it was reported that they had taken a liking to the potential addition of West Bromwich Albion's Harry Whitwell.

Before the start of the current season, the 20-year-old had only made seven senior appearances at The Hawthorns, but had very much been highly-rated at academy level for some time, winning the Academy Player of the Year award in B71 in 2023, having ended up with 13 goals and seven assists in 65 games for the club's Under-21s.

The interest in Whitwell also came just days before Albion's controversial 2-1 win at Carrow Road on the first day of the season, during which he was a solid performer in 68 minutes' worth of action.

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After spending a period on loan in the National League with Forest Green Rovers, Whitwell has returned to the West Midlands side full of confidence, and James Morrison's trust in the youngster has certainly paid off for the Baggies since the aforementioned interest from their divisional rivals was reported.

The versatile playmaker opened his senior account with a well-taken finish in the 3-1 win over Burnley on August 23rd, before marking a stellar performance against Watford with the assist for Jimmy-Jay Morgan on September 5th.

Despite not being heavily involved in the disappointing 1-0 loss to Wolves at Molineux last time out, Whitwell penned a new two-and-a-half year contract until June 2029 earlier this month, putting to bed the likelihood of West Brom losing his services for £0 next summer, having also been praised by Morrison.

Norwich City have struck gold with £8m Andre Brooks deal despite Harry Whitwell transfer miss

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Whilst there is no guarantee that Whitwell would have enjoyed a similar start to the campaign if signed by Norwich, the truth of the matter is that Clement has struck gold with the £8m signing of Andre Brooks from Sheffield United regardless.

Brooks, 23, had impressed significantly at Bramall Lane, and was linked with a move to UEFA Champions League side, Club Brugge, in the winter window, before making a rather surprise move across the Championship in June.

The winger was one of the Blades' more consistent performers last term with six goals and two assists in 39 league outings, but just eight league games into his Norwich career, the Jamaican international is already halfway to that particular tally with two goals and as many assists.

Such exploits also come after the highly-rated ace impressed on his competitive debut with a goal and an assist against MK Dons in the EFL Cup, ranking in the top four percent of Championship wingers for several offensive and defensive metrics in the meantime.

Andre Brooks' form could have stunted Harry Whitwell's own development

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Given Brooks' stellar start to life in Norfolk, it is hard to envisage a world in which Whitwell would have become an immediate starter under Clement, which has been the case for the England youth international with West Brom.

He could have been waiting until now for his first opportunities in yellow and green, though, as Clement currently sweats over the immediate availability of Brooks, who withdrew from Jamaica's current international squad through injury.

Losing another player in red-hot form would certainly feel like déjà vu for the Norwich boss, though, meaning that the likes of Ante Crnac may have to step up whilst not being in his natural position.