"If they offered £20 million" - Norwich City: Josh Sargent factor mentioned in Ante Crnac exit debate | OneFootball

FLW's Norwich City fan pundit has shared his thoughts on Borussia Dortmund's reported interest in forward Ante Crnac.

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...

As Norwich City continue their hunt for a new manager, it could be a big summer of change at Carrow Road.

Norwich made the surprise decision to part company with head coach Johannes Hoff Thorup last month after missing out on the play-offs, and despite impressing during his brief interim spell, Jack Wilshere will not be given the permanent job and is expected to leave the club altogether.

Canaries sporting director Ben Knapper has confirmed that the search for Thorup's replacement will be "focused externally", and whoever takes over at the club could have to contend with the departure of some key players, including Borja Sainz and Josh Sargent, who scored 19 and 15 goals respectively this season.

However, it may not only be Sainz and Sargent that Norwich are vulnerable to losing over the coming months as, according to Sky Germany, Borussia Dortmund are keeping tabs on forward Ante Crnac as they look for a back-up option to star striker Serhou Guirassy.

Despite scoring just nine goals in 40 appearances for his previous club, Norwich paid a reported fee of £8.5 million to sign Crnac from Polish side Rakow Czestochowa in the summer, and while he did not quite hit the heights many hoped he would, he still enjoyed a decent first season at Carrow Road.

Norwich City told to demand big Ante Crnac fee as Borussia Dortmund circle

When asked what kind of fee the club should demand for Crnac this summer if Dortmund come calling, FLW's Norwich City fan pundit Zeke Downes insisted that he does not want to see the 21-year-old depart, but he admitted an offer in the region of £15 million to £20 million could be difficult to turn down.

"I don't see a world in which we let Ante Crnac go, unless we keep hold of Sargent, but I don't see that happening," Zeke told FLW.

"We've just recently signed him for £8.5 million, and he's shown some really good things.

"He's got some good goals and assists already, despite not really playing too much and in the right position a lot of the time, and he's still very young.

"He's got a lot of development left, but he's shown enough to make me think that next season without Sargent, he will able to make that step up, even though it's obviously a bit of a risk.

"At the same time, if Dortmund came in for him, I can see why he'd want to leave, but it would need to be for a profit, so you're looking at around £15-20 million.

"If they offered £20 million, then you'd have to take it, but that leaves us without any strikers.

"If we go £20 million for him, £15 million - £20 million for Sargent and maybe another £15 million for Sainz, then we've got a lot of money there to buy three or four attackers to replace them.

"We could also use that money on Lewis Dobbin and Jacob Wright as well, so we've got a lot of options there if that does happen.

"But I would keep Crnac unless they offered a decent amount of money."

It was not the easiest first season for Crnac at Carrow Road, but he was often forced to play out of position during the campaign, and he certainly showed enough glimpses of quality to suggest that he could be a success in the future.

With Sargent widely expected to depart this summer, Norwich cannot afford to lose another striker in Crnac, and while they could be open to selling him if they receive a bid around the £15 million to £20 million mark, it seems unlikely they will receive such a sizeable offer for a player who is yet to fully prove himself at Championship level.

Crnac undoubtedly has the talent to go on to play at a higher level at some stage, but he is perhaps not quite ready to make the step up to a club the size of Borussia Dortmund at this point in his career, and remaining in Norfolk for at least another year would be the most sensible option for his development.