Norwich City enter race for Swansea City contract rebel - Liam Manning factor made clear | OneFootball

A number of second tier outfits reportedly want to sign the defender this summer.

Out-of-contract centre-back Harry Darling is a transfer option that new Norwich City head coach Liam Manning is reportedly looking at.

Manning was officially appointed as Johannes Hoff Thorup's successor on Tuesday evening, and, unsurprisingly, the work to take the Canaries back to the promotion challenging place that they want to be in is under way.

The ex-Bristol City boss has eyes on Darling, who he previously worked with at MK Dons, according to The Pink Un. The 25-year-old was one of the standouts in Swansea City's 2024/25 campaign. He helped to keep 12 clean sheets in 39 Championship appearances and found the back of the net on five occasions too.

Darling has been offered a new deal by Alan Sheehan's side but is yet to make any decision on his future, and so the Canaries may look to pounce.

Harry Darling appears on Liam Manning's Norwich City watchlist

Norwich's interest in the defender doesn't stretch any further than that at this stage, as per The Pink Un. They aren't alone in their outside intrigue either. Birmingham City and Wrexham, the two automatically promoted clubs from League One, are also reportedly looking into making a move for Darling, as are Manning's former club and Sheffield United, according to the BBC.

The Robins being involved in the race for the 25-year-old should come as no surprise given how Manning spoke about Darling during their shared days together at Stadium MK. "Harry goes with our best wishes and I'm sure he'll continue to go on an upward trajectory," said the Norwich's new head coach after the defender's move to Swansea for more than £1 million in 2022.

"He had a tremendous season with us and I cannot speak highly enough of him firstly as a person and as a player."

Liam Manning connection will provide Norwich with a big boost in Harry Darling race

Pre-built relationships have always been key to transfers across footballing history.

It's a short career for players and, if you already know the people you are going to potentially work for, then that makes the decision on whether to go there much easier. The same goes for managers. They won't go after talent that they haven't worked well with in the past.

Darling and Manning are reported to have had a good relationship while at MK and, while that might not be the deciding factor, given how much money could be on the table for him with a prospective move to a Birmingham or a Wrexham, from a footballing standpoint, it should give Norwich a bit of a leg up in this battle.