After a frenzied day of activity at Carrow Road – a rarity here on Transfer Deadline Day – the upshot was three in and one out and a net profit of what could eventually rise to £20 million.
So an absolutely outstanding day if you’re an owner or a bean counter, but what about if you’re a supporter?
We’ll take a quick look and try and put some faces to the names.
OUT
No details needed here. We were told early on in the window that Andrew Omobamidele was on the ‘for sale’ list – intended to try and raise funds for any purchases – and so we’d braced ourselves for his exit.
However, the closer we got to the deadline and with very few rumours circulating it appeared the young Irishman may be staying put, especially with funds from the sales of Max Aarons and Milot Rashica already sitting unused in the kitty.
There was a clue to his possible departure at Ashton Gate on Tuesday night when big Andy thanked the fans at the end of the 1-0 win. Those present described it as looking like a farewell and they were right.
He departs with our best wishes. A Premier League contract for him and a good fee for us for a 21-year-old who cost us peanuts. That, whether we like it or not, is the model.
Also departing was young centre-back Jonathan Tomkinson to Bradford City on a season-long loan. The young American is currently injured but will join up with the Bantams after the international break,
IN
First through the door yesterday was 18-year-old striker Daniel Ogwuruf from Manchester City. While initially, rumours swirled that he was to be the chosen one to fill the Josh Sargent boots until his return, he in fact arrives as part of the Under-21s.
After joining Man City from Bolton at the age of 14, he progressed through the age groups and spent last season playing in the Premier League 2, scoring once in eight appearances.
And then it started to get a bit twitchy.
The final two signings were the ‘eleventh-hour’ type that always smacks of panic from the outside even if there was none, and winning the race by a nose was Sunderland centre-back Danny Batth.
The 32-year-old centre-back arrives to fill the Omobamidele-shaped hole in the squad and was Sunderland’s Player of the Year last season. One of the few players of South Asian origin to be playing in English football, Batth began his career at Wolves, where he played over 200 games – all of them in the Championship and League One.
His time at Wolves was punctuated with several loan moves before a permanent transfer to Stoke where he spent four years. In January 2022 he moved to Sunderland where he enjoyed a successful season and a half – playing a key role in the team that made it to the playoffs.
Sunderland fans were hoping Batth would be offered a new deal but it wasn’t forthcoming and now he’s one of us.
The final one through the door, and one who has been brought in to fill the Sargent boots, is Hwang Ui-jo – a South Korean striker who is currently with Nottingham Forest and who, due to their plethora of signings, has slipped down to 25th in their list of striking options.
Another thirty-something, prior to joining Forest, Hwang Ui-jo has played for Seongnam FC, in his native South Korea, Gamba Osaka in Japan, and Bordeaux in France where he scored 29 goals in 98 games.
He arrives here on loan and will offer experience and a high work ethic, ideal for the high-pressing style that David Wagner demands.
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So, there we go. The extremities of youth and experience and, as ever, only the test of time will reveal if these Deadline Day deals are good ones.
One thing’s for sure, we haven’t spent very much in terms of transfer fees, which suggests to me that a chunk of the money received for the sale of Messrs Aarons, Rashica and Omobamidele will be used to cover day-to-day costs. I guess that’s self-funding for you.
Equally, it would be nice to think that some of it could be set aside for Wagner to use in January if we need an extra push down the home straight in the hunt for top six.
We’ll see.
Anyway, good luck to Big Andy and to the other three, a very warm Y’Army welcome.
Not wanting to Ui-Jo on anyone’s chips, Gary, I suspect that other than the loan fees etc, any profit has gone straight into the black hole, which leaves me wondering who’s next on the list of family silver. Better make the most of Sara while we have him!
I hope we can continue the good start, but I get the feeling we’re running out of self-funding cards to play if we don’t go up.
Sounds spot on to me DC
Gosh that all got busy rather quickly. Sky reporting £11m for big Andy, with pinkun lads saying add-ons could rise to £20m. Probably a fair price, given where he is currently at? Hope the move works out for him.
Batth I like, and very glad we brought him in last minute, and Hwang is a bit of an unknown quantity I guess. Was excited that we may have been in for Tom Cannon but like you say Gary, since we are not paying much in the way of fees at present, along with received parachute payments received the last couple of years – you do wonder where the money for all that is going? Concerned if it is the day-to-day running of the club…if so, Jonny Rowe will be out the door next summer if we don’t go up!
Thanks, nice and concise and a bit of insight. Early to bed for me last night so missed much of this. Proof, as always will be in the pudding…But agree, that sounds like a stellar day’s business if you’re strapped for cash but are playing like contenders. Good job.
The best 2 c / halves gone surely should of kept big Andy another season at least Hanley Gibson Duffy must be replaced at end of season 2 slow know and are liabilities that’s been a problem area since went up with farke about 4 or 5 season’s ago can’t rely on them no more must recruit in that area is essential
Don’t know what the players will turn out to be like. So not criticizing them But Our central defenders total age is 124. Hardly you g an hungry players.
Why sell Big Andy so late on the last day leaving us with a rush and near the middle to bottom of the barrel ? No disrespects to Batth, but surely we had a list, or did we grab what was available ? Much the same with Hwang Ui-jo, hope I can be forgiven for not knowing who the hell he is, if he can turn out to be like Son at Spurs then a masterstroke
With Freebies the £66 mill debt should be reduced a little. The Brazilian and lad from Manchester City do add a little more, by some comments I have seen both could fit into first team once settled.
Being honest I am not sure how I feel about this last day deals , a little flat perhaps . but the sort of excitement watching NewsNow for the latest dealings or rumours was a little step back in time
You sell him so late on the last day because you get £20m for him that way.
Well! That wasn’t very Norwich, was it!!!
Good summary, Gary – you may want to move the bit about South Asian origin, though 😉
I suspect Danny Batth has less exotic antecedents!
The loan striker makes a lot of sense – Adam Idah can feel less pressure (although that door swings both ways, perhaps) and we aren’t carrying an unnecessary body into next season.
Good luck to all three new guys.
Batth has Punjabi heritage.
DB IS of South Asian mixed heritage? Why would you doubt that fact in the article? Perhaps you should do your research before putting your foot in your gob mate?
A very good window I believe. All city fans know we do better with loose change in a charity shop than we do with a limitless credit card in Pretentio’s.
Two areas I’d like to enquire about (as I hate to see players never getting a game, and dislike bulging squads, for harmony) are keepers and wingers.
Was McCracken really recalled as Reyes had too many clangers in the U’23 games? and what of Dan Barden? Hope the lad isn’t ill again. 5 keepers for three spots it seems, or 3 keepers for one youth spot perhaps. Either way, thumbs will be twiddled on match days.
Likewise, by my count, we have 6 wingers for 2 starting and 2 sub spots. Sainz, Fassnacht, Rowe, Onel, Placetta, Springett. I know Sainz is injured, and Onel for a bit, but is this too many?
I do find it odd (I’m old) that you need 29 players to make up a squad these days. Is it all insurance for injury crises’?
Still a very happy city fan, just questions my OCD demands I enquire about. (I’m resisting a rant about squad numbers for now).
OTBC
Excellent summary Gary of what was a hectic (by our usual slothness) deadline day.
I cannot help but wonder how much our reputation has fallen though……it’s not too long ago that we thought that Aarons was off to Barcelona, and Andy O to Milan…..and instead it’s Bournemouth and Forest at lower fees…..and as you say, I doubt too much of that will be available to strenghten in January if need be.
And belated congratulations to Jonathan Rowe……probably the next big money departure!
O T B C
Gary, a fair summing up and I add my support to your final statement. So very different to the old days, remember the Wolfswinkel fiasco?
Hi Gary
So a poor end to the transfer window especially if the rumoured amount for Omobamidele is right after Webber boasted he’d turned down more money in January for him than he got for Godfrey.
First contact for Omobamidele again according to Sky was lunchtime yesterday when two offers were rejected.
It’s water under the bridge and we now have a Batth for the team and a Korean who when purchased was out the Forest Door so fast their supporters thought he was a typo but 50 players in and 7 yesterday, I just hope young Andrew doesn’t get lost in the crush for a team spot but come January he’ll go out on loan I suspect.
Good like to all the ins and outs let’s hope that it doesn’t stop the upward movement of the team.
Glad to see we didn’t end up with a kid but a proven international up front. Twenty goal target at this level should be reasonable.
Brilliant window for me m8
Got rid of two players who could not defend, love the experience Wagner got to replace them. Barnes always thought was a good signing jury out on the forest guy.
Ian’s a happy bunny things at FCR look very bright ATM but we all know what Norwich are like probably lose today 😔 and we will have a rubbish 2 weeks
Spot on. Very good window and ideal for a Wagner most importantly. Old hardened center backs rather than ball playing youngsters who are sketchy at times. Loved Big Andy but he ended up left in charge of the defence too often and he was too young for that. Most will be glad when Webber goes but I think we may miss him more than we realise.
I think we have to give Webber a pat on the back here, he’s got around £30m in, and spent practically nothing.
The players he’s brought in are either big possibilities for the future, or players with proven ability – the latter give us the opportunity to consolidate then move forward, the young ones offer us some future potential and maybe there are a few good sell-on’s for us too.
The window gives Wagner plenty to work with too!
Good work, Stuart Webber!
COYYs !!
Rashica and Tzolis forgiven so quickly???
O T B C
A friend of mine who supports Sunderland and watches them regularly tells me Batth is solid but slow. Judging by our other central defenders I hope experience can compensate for speed.
The fact we didn’t seriously bid for Cannon tells me that all the income will be used to facilitate the £60 million shortfall in our accounts.
Considering our recent transfer income from Buendia etc plus three lots of parachute payments one has to question how come we end up only signing freebies.
If all goes well and we are promoted who is going to provide the huge sum required to become a Nottingham Forest as our current recruitment will not meet premiership requirements and I don’t wish to see us humiliated for a third time.
Enjoying our current performances does leave me with a feeling of de jar vie!
Covid answers all your financial questions. That is why there is a black hole.
How come our hole seems to be bigger than others despite parachute payments that others did not receive?
Covid only affected norwich city apparently
If the latest recruits are as successful as the earlier 4 then Webber and presumably Wagner have done very well. I don’t know the Korean but sounds like he has a lot of energy which fits the current model. Going back a few years I could never understand why we replaced Buendia with wingers. Pukki never responded to wingers. I had and still have a lot of time for Farke but could never understand that shift. At least Wagner now has a style he likes to play and seems to get players in to fit it. I was keen on Cannon as I liked what he did at Preston but always puzzled why he didn’t get more games at Everton when they couldn’t score at all. Something behind the scenes maybe. Good luck to Omo hope it works out better than it does for many who move on.
Has anyone checked Hwang on Wiki? If true, the piece under ‘personal life’ looks disturbing and I wonder whether NCFC knew?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hwang_Ui-jo
This signing screams of it being a last minute desperate punt. In a decade of football in not particularly high level leagues, he’s managed 90 goals.
I don’t know what stats our statisticians are looking at, but I’d love to see the data behind this signing that suggests he’s a Champ level forward.
As you say, the personal life section is worrying.
Yes ,I read that on Friday night & did wonder if he would fit into the Norfolk lifestyle
While selling Andrew is good business, all the sales are going into the black hole of NCFC because its business model does not work. We all know it is only a matter of time before all it comes crashing down, unless we can get promoted. Even then, we know what’s coming sooner or later.
I’m all for selling a player for £20M and buying a player at £5M to replace them, but even that now is completely beyond reach. We’re sub John Bond era.
In the last 24 hours there has been much double standards from some Norwich City fans. They cannot be Pro Delia, yet complain about the quality and/or lack of signings. They’ve bought into her and that is how she operates to fund her hold on the club and all that compromises it.
I sit on the other side of the fence as you know and have – and never had – any time for Delia & MWJ, because they are not financially suitable to run a football club like Norwich City – or anywhere near it. So I can criticise with a degree of consistency.
Wagner is grateful to be given another crack in the second tier, but if he can make a name for himself again, then what is keeping him here given the above.
Despite our good start, don’t ignore the fundamentals that are holding this club back.
The ‘fundamentals’ are REALITY . . What holds NCFC back is that the PL & to a lesser extent the EFL have become more like a game of Monopoly. . Chelsea pay nearly £50 million for a player who did not start a PL game for his previous club & Liverpool turndown a bid of £150 million for one of their players . .What chance have clubs like NCFC got regardless of ownership
The best 2 c / halves gone surely should of kept big Andy another season at least Hanley Gibson Duffy must be replaced at end of season 2 slow know and are liabilities that’s been a problem area since went up with farke about 4 or 5 season’s ago can’t rely on them no more must recruit in that area is essential
The squad is now weaker than it was. If Idah (8 goals in 77 games, admittedly often as a late sub) is to be our main striker in Sargent’s absence, mid-table mediocrity beckons.
A sobering deadline day. The sale of a young player for a reported 20 million pounds and replacement with a free transfer says all we need to know about the state of financial affairs at the club.
Despite still being in receipt of para hute payments we are asset stripping the playing staff to the tune of just south of 40 million to prop up this wretched regime.
Remove the parachute and what happens next?
Inspite of some negative comments here I remain optimistic. Fans shouted about needing a lot of new signings Webber has provided them. Totally unrealistic to expert Norwich to be able to afford recognised talent. The return of exciting, enjoyable football to Carrow Road. A manager who seems to care.Perhaps the odd wobble like yesterday but I’m looking forward to this season, Sorry to see Webber go, the Webber out voices will regret it I think.
Contrary to comment above we’re doing fundamentals mostly right. I don’t see many moaning about purchases, and this seems sensible self funding. I’m hoping we avoid top 6 as I’ve mentioned, we need a few seasons of consolidation, cutting our cloth accordingly. I suspect impatience will seep in, that’s football