Norwich City: Four January exits touted as part of "perfect" Canaries transfer window | OneFootball

FLW's Canaries fan pundit has outlined his "perfect" January transfer window for the club

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

Since his appointment as the latest Norwich City head coach in June, Johannes Hoff Thorup's tenure has been mixed to say the least.

This is more-than backed up by the Canaries' current league position, as the club find themselves in 12th place after the opening 21 games of the Championship season with 26 points to their name, despite being the second-highest scorers in the division with a tally of 36.

On the flipside, the inconsistencies of a new-look and relatively young side - the sixth-youngest in the second tier based on average age figures - have also been laid bare for all to see on occasions, as the East Anglian outfit have also shipped 32 goals.

The summer transfer window saw the Dane replace high-profile departures such as Gabriel Sara, Jonathan Rowe and Adam Idah with a plethora of signings which showcased current ability and future potential in equal measure in the form of Ante Crnac, who was acquired for a reported £8.5m, Amankwah Forson and Jose Cordoba among others.

Furthermore, Norwich also looked to utilise the Premier League loan market with the temporary additions of Liverpool's Kaide Gordon and Callum Doyle of Manchester City.

But, with the winter window looming large, Football League World asked our Canaries fan pundit, Zeke Downes, how a "perfect" January would look from his point of view.

Loan negotiations at the forefront of ideal Norwich City transfer window

Despite only signing on loan from the Merseyside outfit in late August, the aforementioned Gordon was one of several players discussed by Downes, who highlighted a need for the Canaries to consider an early cancellation of his temporary deal, as well as seeing some homegrown talents seek regular first-team minutes away from Carrow Road for the time being.

"The perfect January transfer window, I would say, would be letting Gordon go back to Liverpool, and sending Brad Hills on loan," he began.

"As much as I would love him to be used, I don't think that'll happen yet. I think that's more likely next season when Hanley leaves," the fan pundit explained.

"Tony Springett as well. We should let him go. It's looked like this for a while, but I don't think he has much of a future with us."

"Christian Fassnacht, although I do like him and I wish it did work out better. I think letting him leave as well (would be ideal)," Downes added.

"Hopefully, (we should look at) getting another two attackers to replace them,

"Probably one on loan, maybe a young Premier League player from one of the top teams who is looking for game time, and another permanent striker or winger."

Although there have been no concrete rumours in terms of names potentially moving to East Anglia, Hoff Thorup has recently revealed that it shouldn't come as a surprise that he and the recruitment team at Carrow Road will look to make some changes.

"It's important we use every window. Based on the strategy, to find out what we need. We need to react too, if there's injuries. We want to build the team on a long-term perspective", Thorup said in his pre-match press conference ahead of last weekend's home defeat to Burnley.

“It’s realistic to expect us to do some deals. The steps we have taken now we need to follow up with some further steps," the 35-year-old added.

It remains to be seen whether Gordon will remain in Yellow and Green for the second half of the season amid reports that Arne Slot's side haven't ruled out the possibility of a January recall, as the 20-year-old has only registered nine appearances, one start and one goal thus far.

Hills meanwhile excelled at Accrington Stanley last term, but once again, the 20-year-old centre-back has only made one substitute appearance in the second tier this season.

Fassnacht currently has just over six months left on his current deal after signing from BSC Young Boys in 2023, and has only made three Championship appearances this term due to an achilles issue, although there have been previous reports of a potential return to the Bern-based outfit in January.

Springett is under contract with Norwich until 2026, but after making 10 Championship appearances and recording 13 outings during a loan spell with Northampton Town in the second half of last season, the 22-year-old has failed to register a competitive appearance under Hoff Thorup so far.