Fresh Norwich City, Josh Sargent transfer twist emerges - Liam Manning set for big decision | OneFootball

Liam Manning might not get to reap the benefits of having the American at Carrow Road.

Norwich City striker Josh Sargent is an option that AS Roma are reportedly looking at to strengthen their attack this summer.

Johannes Hoff Thorup, the last boss of the Canaries, had to deal with a more depleted squad than the one he expected to, with Jonathan Rowe and Gabriel Sara leaving Carrow Road in his first summer in charge.

His likely predecessor, Liam Manning, whose move from Bristol City to Norfolk is set to be announced in the coming days, may have to deal with a similar situation.

A Championship club that has two of the league's top scorers and yet finishes in the bottom half of the table is always going to attract attention. Sargent, who, despite missing a number of games through injury - a recurring theme in his Norwich career - netted 15 goals in the 2024/25 campaign.

That was the fourth-highest tally in the division, but still three less than Borja Sainz, who was one goal off winning the Golden Boot.

Josh Sargent appears on Roma's list of attacking options

The American, whose contract runs until the summer of 2028, has appeared on the radar of top clubs over the past few windows. Leeds United are one of the teams that have been consistently linked with the 25-year-old, as have clubs in Germany, where he applied his trade for Werder Bremen before moving to Carrow Road in 2021.

Interest in Sargent is now coming from Italy too, as per Gianluca Di Marzio. He has reported that Roma are looking at Sargent as an option to go after this summer. Norwich are yet to receive any proposals for their number nine.

The Serie A outfit are set to appoint former Atalanta boss Gian Piero Gasperini after the departure of Leicester City title-winner Claudio Ranieri. They finished fifth in the Italian first division last time out, earning themselves a spot in next season's Europa League.

Roma are also interested in Stuttgart centre-forward Nick Woltemade, according to Di Marzio. He played at Werder with Norwich's forward in the German second division. They have also been linked with Sunderland midfielder Dan Neil.

Sargent wouldn't be guaranteed a starting spot with Roma

Sargent would add to an attack that already has a number of notable faces. Paulo Dybala, Artem Dovbyk, Matias Soule and Stephan El Shaarawy: all players that the American would have to compete with if he moved to the Italian capital. Roma would need to have sufficient depth in this area of the pitch if they were to sign the 25-year-old because of his poor fitness record.

With Norwich, pretty much everything flows through him and Sainz. That luxury of being the main man, the one that everyone behind you is trying to pick out and put in a position to score, wouldn't necessarily be afforded to him under Gasperini.

That's not to say he couldn't work under the expected new Roma boss. His record of winning European silverware and improving talent would probably be a strong pulling factor for Sargent - that and the continental competition he'd be involved in. But he may have to make peace with having a more regular spot on the bench.