Welcome to Overtime’s Winter Transfer Solutions for the 2022 January transfer window. Our club reporters will use the latest statistics to suggest two key players each club should break the bank for. Freddie Humphry-Wakefield looks at Norwich below.
Despite a change in Manager, Norwich City haven’t seen a change in fortunes in the Premier League. It’s evidently clear that the Canaries need to improve their squad with a few new signings. The two specific positions I’ll be looking at for the bottom club are a new defensive midfielder, and a new striker.
DEFENSIVE MIDFIELDER:
Since his recent pelvis injury, Norwich have massively missed their main defensive midfielder and arguably best player, Mathias Normann. The 25-year-old on loan from Russian side FC Rostov has been key in helping the Canaries being able to cope with high-intensity and pressing midfield opposition.
But with his loan expiring at the end of the season, Dean Smith should be looking to bring in a permanent option, if Rostov are unwilling to sell.
The option I would suggest is Fulham’s 26-year-old English defensive midfielder, Harrison Reed, who also had a loan spell at the Norfolk club in the 2017-18 season.
Embed from Getty ImagesReed’s defensive work rate and solidity is exactly what Norwich need, if they are to stand any chance of conceding less goals and be able to prevent any teams easily cruising past them in the middle of the park.
Reed has made 50 tackles, nine blocks, 43 interceptions and has a ground duel success rate of 55.56%, some of which are the highest in the Championship for a player in his position. With this level of defensive composure, the constant pressure on the Norwich back four may start to reduce.
STRIKER:
Considering he’s scored scoring five of Norwich’s eight Premier League goals this season, it’s easy to see Teemu Pukki is relied on too much by his teammates. The Canaries need someone up top who can play alongside Pukki and strike up a great partnership.
My selected choice is SL Benfica and Ukraine striker, Roman Yaremchuk who has scored six goals, which is the seventh highest in the league this season. He also has two assists in 11 appearances in the Liga Portugal.
Embed from Getty ImagesAlso, all of Yaremchuk’s goals this season have been inside the box and he has a shot accuracy of 68.75% in the league. If Norwich are looking to survive, Yaremchuk’s goal scoring and role as a poacher will certainly help their goal tally increase. His conversion rate in the league this season is 37.5%, so if he can get himself in the right position and manage three shots on goal, one of them will end up in the back of the net. The exact cold-hearted ruthlessness they need.
Yaremchuk has also created 10 chances in the league this season, so if he played in a partnership with Pukki, they could not only finish off chances with precision, but also provide for one another to solve Norwich City’s lack of goal-scoring capability this season.
It also helps that Yaremchuk has 12 goals in 36 games for Ukraine, which proves he can also provide the goals at an international stage against experienced European opposition, if Norwich fans are worried about him having it easy with Benfica, where the only challengers are Porto and Sporting Lisbon.
