Doyle using City experience to help Norwich in play-off race | OneFootball

It’s fair to say City defender Callum Doyle is enjoying the challenges that come with playing in the Championship.

In the first of our new series ‘Life on Loan’, City Studios travelled to Norwich to catch up with Doyle who moved to East Anglia in the summer for a season-long loan with the Canaries.

It was a move that happened quickly for the 21-year-old. After returning from the United States where he spent three weeks as part of Pep Guardiola's City squad on our 2024 USA pre-season tour, Doyle had to integrate into Norwich’s side instantly.

But the Stateside trip proved a valuable experience for the aspiring defender who is continuing to hone and perfect his craft at Carrow Road.

“I loved every minute of it to be fair,” said Doyle when reflecting on his first senior summer camp.

“It was my first time going away, I was a bit nervous, but I was glad to get good minutes. Just being around [the first team] was great for me.

“He’s [Pep Guardiola] a top manager and I think everyone dreams of one day being coached by him. It was a proud moment for me and I took on board what he told me [and am now using it at Norwich].

“I think for me personally I just want to get as many goals and assists as I can this season. I didn’t get many in my past two seasons at the different clubs I went to and promotion hopefully.

“I think that’s what this club [Norwich] is striving for and I think we can do it.”

After joining City’s Academy in 2014, Doyle progressed through the age groups as a key player before spending the past three seasons on loan, further developing his attributes in the EFL.

In his first spell away from Manchester, Doyle totalled 39 league appearances for Sunderland. He helped the Makems gain promotion to the Championship via the League One play-offs in a fantastic 2021/22 campaign.

The following season Doyle tried his hand in the Championship, tallying 46 matches as Coventry City made the play-offs.

His latest spell away from Manchester again saw him play a pivotal role, this time at Leicester City, where he helped former City assistant coach Enzo Maresca guide the Foxes to promotion back into the Premier League. Doyle made 17 league appearances in what proved another fantastic opportunity to further aid his development.

And it’s not just Doyle who feels he has seen progression in his game, but also his current team-mates including Norwich City captain Kenny McLean.

“I think anybody that has watched Callum will agree that when he’s on the ball and is progressing and steps into midfield and plays a forward pass, he’s incredible at it and we’re very fortunate that we’ve got someone who can do that for us in that position,” began McLean.

“I think if you look at Guardiola and Nathan Ake maybe as centre half, playing in that position like Callum does for us, he [Callum] comes inside a lot and plays next to me and I think we’ve got a really good relationship.

“When someone’s got that quality and ability it’s easy to link up with him.”

While visiting Norwich, City Studios followed Doyle around the Avant Training Centre before a trip to Eaton Park East and Grounded Coffee Bar to hear from the versatile defender about his loan spell so far.

At the time of writing, the Canaries are five points outside the top six, in 11th place. But with a third of the season still to play out, a charge for the play-offs is still very much the ambition for Doyle, his team-mates and Head Coach Johannes Hoff Thorup.

Like Doyle mentioned earlier, adding more assists to his game has been evident. He’s teed up six goals and scored his first in the Championship in September during Norwich’s 4-1 win over Watford.

A total of seven goal involvements already bests his previous campaigns in senior football and part of that success is thanks to Doyle’s versatility, a key attribute that Thorup noticed in the defender’s game.

“It [recruitment] started early summer where we started to look at profiles, the kind of players we think are suited for the way we want to play,” began Thorup, who took up the role as Norwich Head Coach in May 2024.

“And Callum came up actually as I think one of the first ones.

“He could cover the centre-back position but also the full-back position which is most important for us. He has this vision for the game, his left foot and hopefully can be a really important player for us.

“He’s doing really well and for us he is training well and he’s engaging with all these talks and feedback meetings we have so he’s on a very, very good track for us.”