Norwich City: Gabriel Sara transfer update emerges as AS Roma set to make move | OneFootball

Norwich City's Gabriel Sara has reportedly been placed on the transfer list amid significant interest from Roma

Following a terrific individual campaign in the 2023/24 Championship, Norwich City's Gabriel Sara is the subject of transfer interest from AS Roma, according to Italian outlet La Gazetta Dello Sport, via Roma Press.

Sara was a standout performer throughout the second-tier last term, scoring 13 goals and laying on a further 12 assists to drag Norwich towards the play-off semi-finals, where they came undone against Daniel Farke's Leeds United.

Their failure to achieve, admittedly, a rather improbable Premier League promotion has invited significant doubt over Sara's Carrow Road future, with the natural feeling being that a player of his quality will not want to spend a third successive season in the second-tier.

The Brazilian midfielder joined Norwich in the summer of 2022 following their relegation from the Premier League and made an immediate impression by tallying 11 direct goal involvements in his first season despite the team's uninspiring 13th-placed finish.

AS Roma interested in transfer for Norwich City's Gabriel Sara

The aforementioned report states that Roma boss Daniele De Rossi - who knows a thing or two about midfielders having ammassed 117 caps and a World Cup winner's medal for the Italian national team as a player - wants to increase his depth of options in the middle of the park.

He reportedly desires midfielders that are capable of progressively carrying the ball into dangerous positions, a box which Sara certainly ticks.

Even though Roma finished their Serie A campaign in sixth position and reached a Europa League semi-final against Bayer Leverkusen, the shortage of goals from central areas has been highlighted as an issue for De Rossi to amend during the off-season and makes further sense of their Sara pursuit.

It's believed that while Sara is set to return to undertake pre-season preparations in Norfolk, his intentions are anything but a secret and he's already been placed on the club's transfer list ahead of a likely summer switch.

Gabriel Sara transfer departure would be a disaster for Norwich City

Although a potential transfer fee has not yet been publicly disclosed, you can imagine that Norwich could quite easily collect upwards of £15 million for the 24-year-old.

Sure enough, that will help to remedy the situation by facilitating a strong transfer kitty for Norwich - but they're still set to lose one of the Championship's finest midfield players and they'll find it difficult to find a replacement of similar ability.

Not just a considerable goal threat, Sara is also extremely creative and combines his attacking skillset with a steely robustness when it comes to breaking up possession too, rendering him as a perfect all-round midfield operator.

It's a rare profile.

In the Championship, you often have to centralise a player's strengths while trying to evade their weaknesses, however Sara has none of real note and that should see him progress further when he inevitably moves on.