Norwich City Eyes Left-Back Transfers
Philippe Clement confirmed Norwich City are stepping up their left-back transfer hunt, and will listen to offers for Jakov Medic and Amankwah Forson.
The centre-back and attacking midfielder were not part of Clement's squad for Saturday's 2-1 pre-season friendly defeat against Osasuna but featured at Borehamwood for the Under-21s the previous night.
Both have struggled for game time under Clement and can leave ahead of the summer transfer deadline next month.
"There is availability if there is a team who's interested in them, and it's a good deal for the club," he said. "Those are players who are available to go, but if it's not the case, they stay part of the group and they keep working hard."
Forson had eight goal contributions in 44 senior appearances since arriving from Red Bull Salzburg, but his time in Norfolk has been hit by fitness-related issues.
Medic was signed last summer from Ajax but fell down the pecking order with the first-team emergence of Ruairi McConville under Clement.
The Belgian also indicated City are looking to add ahead of the upcoming League Cup tie against MK Dons.
Norwich completed an early flurry of transfer business, headlined by Andre Brooks signing for an initial £8m from Sheffield United, but have remained on the lookout for a left-back.
"Like we always say, it's when everything is signed, we can say something. But I don't think we are going to wait long, or we don't need to wait long any more. It's hopefully in the next couple of days," said the City chief.
Ali Ahmed's Injury Concerns
Norwich City's squad are ready to rally round Ali Ahmed after his injury blow in their pre-season friendly defeat to La Liga side Osasuna.
The Canadian international suffered what is feared to be a major knee injury when stretching to receive a long diagonal pass, leaving him in need of treatment before he was assisted down the tunnel by the Canaries medical team.
Ahmed is due to undergo scans and further assessment in the coming days. The incident sapped the energy out of Carrow Road during their final pre-season match in front of supporters, ahead of competitive action kicking off against MK Dons in the Carabao Cup next week.
Defender Jose Cordoba admits Ahmed's injury affected the end of their performance against the Spanish side, with Asier Bonel's last-minute chip securing victory. The Panama international was quick to reassure that City's squad would wrap their arms around the winger if a lengthy injury lay-off is confirmed.
"Personally, I hope everything will be okay for him," Cordoba said after City's friendly defeat to Osasuna. "No one wants to get injured that way. Of course, there is an impact on the rest of the team, because everyone wants to perform, everyone wants to show the reason that we are here at Norwich City."
Clement Reflects on Pre-Season Performance
Jose Cordoba felt there were plenty of positives for Norwich City to take from their pre-season defeat to Osasuna.
"I think it was a good test against Osasuna, a Spanish side. They play really good football, as you see, as everyone sees," he said. "They are very good with the ball, and I think we performed very well in the first half."
"There are so many things that we have to keep improving, but it was a good friendly game. It was brilliant to see the fans. Thank you to everyone who came to see us in the friendly. We were really happy to play friendly at home like that with all of them," Cordoba added.
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