Norwich City have agreed a deal to sign Red Bull Salzburg midfielder Forson Amankwah.
The loss of Gabriel Sara will be one that may hit Norwich hard on the pitch, but, off the pitch, it has given Johannes Hoff Thorup a bit more leeway in terms of what he can do to make this City team into his own one.
Galatasaray paid just over £15 million for the Brazilian, and the Canaries look to have quickly put that money to use.
Norwich agree Forson Amankwah deal
Pink Un has reported that they will pay just under £4 million, with the possibility of performance-based bonuses on top, to Salzburg for the transfer of Amankwah.
The 21-year-old Ghanaian was first reported by Owurako Ampofo to be on his way to the country to secure his move to the Norfolk side.
Norwich’s local outlet then followed up this news and said that an agreement had been reached between the two clubs, and that Amankwah, who is said to be a player that City have had their eye on for a while, is set to become the latest addition made by Thorup.
Unfortunately for the Canaries, he’s not expected to be involved this weekend in the club’s curtain jerker against Oxford United.
They faced competition in getting his signature. Pink Un stated that a host of European clubs, including Anderlecht, Sturm Graz, Nordsjaelland, Freiburg, Augsburg, and Stuttgart, wanted to sign the 21-year-old this summer.
City are still believed to be in the market for another midfielder, after the loss of Sara. However, Liverpool’s Bobby Clark, who has been linked, by The Athletic, to the Canaries and the club that Amankwah is set to arrive from, is not one of the players they are after.
Forson Amankwah: Norwich’s next midfield addition
The centre-mid has been with RB Salzburg since February 2021, when he joined the club from the West African Football Academy.
He spent the majority of his first two years on loan, but he’s been much more involved in the Salzburg first team since the start of 2023.
The last two seasons have seen the Ghanaian international play just over 50 times in the Austrian Bundesliga – he’s also made four Champions League appearances.
The 2022/23 campaign was his best statistical year since making the move to Austria, with a combined six goals and assists at a rate of one direct goal contribution every 4.6 games.
Norwich fans should be pleased with swift action
As soon as it became clearer that Sara was going to be off, it looked like all hands were very quickly on deck to add more options in this area of the pitch. Amankwah isn’t expected to be a like-for-like replacement for the new Galatasaray man, but they certainly needed more depth in the centre of the park.
Even though Pink Un don’t believe a player like Clark to be on Norwich’s watchlist, someone of his ilk would be able to offer something more akin to what the Brazilian could.
The needs of the team have clearly been identified and, in this case, at least, they have moved swiftly to try and resolve it. You can’t ask for too much more, as a fan.
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