"Missed opportunity" - Reaction given to Norwich City, Tyrhys Dolan transfer news | OneFootball

The 23-year-old is out of contract at Blackburn Rovers, but won't join Norwich City 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…

Norwich City will likely be on the lookout for a new winger this summer, but that man will not be Blackburn Rovers' Tyrhys Dolan.

With Onel Hernandez and Lewis Dobbin departing this summer, and Borja Sainz likely following them out of the door sooner rather than later, Liam Manning will be hoping that new widemen will be on the menu this transfer window.

But, according to the Pink Un, Norwich won't be signing Tyrhys Dolan this summer, despite reports linking him to Carrow Road throughout the ongoing off-season.

Dolan has built up an impressive Championship resume, playing nearly 200 games in the second tier already despite only being 23 years of age, and understandably is expected to attract lots of interest across the division with his contract up at the end of the month off the back of a career-best goals return in the 2024/25 campaign.

FLW's Norwich City fan pundit, Zeke Downes, feels that, despite being linked with Dolan, he always felt that a move for the 23-year-old would be difficult, and therefore isn't too shocked that he won't end up at Carrow Road come August.

Hype over Tyrhys Dolan will leave Norwich City fans disappointed, according to fan pundit

Speaking to Football League World, Downes gave his opinion on the report that Tyrhys Dolan will not be lining up on the wing at Norwich City next season.

He said, "I think Dolan was always going to be one to hype the fans rather than something which was likely going to happen.

"I think because he'd be on a free, he would have a lot of other teams looking at him, a lot of Championship sides and even at a slightly higher level, it's hard to know exactly, and it was always going to be difficult."

Having scored seven and assisted six in 44 Championship games last season, Dolan would currently signal a downgrade on Borja Sainz, if he were going to be the replacement for the 24-year-old Spanish star. However, many Norwich fans had hopes that the Blackburn man had the potential to get even better.

Whilst Downes expressed his disappointment at losing out on Dolan, he still holds hope that, if and when Sainz leaves, Sporting Director Ben Knapper and the higher-ups at Norwich will find an apt replacement.

"It's a bit of a shame and a missed opportunity, but I trust at this stage that we will be looking at the right players to replace any potential outgoings," he said.

"I think we will hopefully replace Sainz with a player as good as him or with the potential to be at that level.

"So overall I'm a bit disappointed, but not massively surprised."

Norwich City could possibly do better than Tyrhys Dolan as Borja Sainz replacement talks grow

Borja Sainz is still a Norwich City player at the moment, but the Canaries have had to knock back interest from Portuguese giants Porto and Serie A champions Napoli so far this summer.

If the pressure caves in and Norwich does have to sell, then Sainz' replacement will need to instantly be one of the better wingers in the Championship if they are to maintain the quality of their side immediately.

At 23, Dolan has the potential to improve even further than what he can already bring. He was in the top 10% of Championship right-wingers in successful dribbles and fouls won, but Sainz is less than a year older and a lot better currently than the Blackburn wideman.

If Downes' hopes of bringing in someone who would be as good as one of the best players in the Championship materialise, Norwich would likely have to look at bringing in a hidden gem from abroad, as Sainz's attacking stats were bettered by little to nobody in the second tier last season.

Canaries fans will be hoping that their winger shopping can provide slightly better results than their January ventures, after Matej Jurasek made just one start after he arrived from Slavia Prague midway through last season.

But given how good Sainz was last season, whoever his possible replacement would be if they were to sell him has big shoes to fill.