"Wouldn't accept anything less" - Punchy Norwich City expectation landed on Borja Sainz | OneFootball

Our Canaries fan pundit has named Borja Sainz as the club's most valuable player

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...

Norwich City winger Borja Sainz has been named as the club's most prized asset right now by our fan pundit, with a valuation of around £20 million following his impressive early-season form and subsequent links with a move away from Carrow Road.

Sainz was a standout in the second-tier in the opening stages of this season, with his 15 league goals placing him clear at the top of the scoring charts, despite Norwich only sitting in 12th place as it stands.

The versatile forward has understandably attracted transfer attention as a result of his impressive performances, with Serie A outfit Napoli the latest to be linked with a move, following January interest from Girona in his native Spain and previous reports of both Galatasaray and Atlético Madrid being ready to make an approach to the Canaries.

His form took a downturn in the months leading up to his six-game ban for spitting in December, but he is back fit now and will be looking to fire Johannes Hoff Thorup's side to a top-six finish this season, with a potential move away on the horizon in the summer for big money.

Fan pundit identifies Borja Sainz as Norwich's most prized asset

Norwich have been wholly inconsistent as a team this term, with few players other than Sainz proving that they can consistently impress over a period of games. They currently sit mid-table in the Championship, but are just four points from sixth, so could well clinch a play-off spot by May if Sainz is able to return to his early-season form soon.

His season has certainly faltered as of late, as he had failed to score in any of his eight outings before his December suspension, and is yet to have much of an impact in the two games since his return, with the Canaries picking up just one point from last week's double-header against Preston North End and Hull City.

Teams have been, and still will be, interested in securing his signature regardless, after he was electric in the early parts of the campaign and picked up the Championship Player of the Month award for both September and October, and registered 15 goals and two assists in the first 18 league games of the season.

It comes as little surprise, then, that FLW's Canaries fan pundit, Zeke Downes, has picked out Sainz as Norwich's most valuable player and prized asset at this moment in time, while adding that he believes it will take upwards of £20 million to prise him from Carrow Road ahead of next season.

"Our most prized asset at the club would probably be Borja Sainz," Zeke told FLW.

"This comes after a tweet I saw about how Napoli are apparently interested in him. I can see why, because he is a really good age, and he obviously has scored a lot of goals.

"I’d imagine that we’d be looking at around £20 to £25 million (to sell him). I wouldn’t accept anything less than £20 million, I don't think.

"Although, Jon Rowe went for less than that about six months ago, and he was younger and is English, so I’m not sure. I just don’t see us accepting less than £20 million.

"If we were offered that, then I would probably accept, because then we can use that money to replace him and get another centre-back and probably a goalkeeper."

Norwich will not sell Sainz for any less than they think is fair

The Canaries' results without Sainz' presence in January and early February were mixed, to say the least, with losses against Brighton, Sheffield United and Leeds United followed by wins over Swansea City and Watford, and then a draw at home to Derby County.

They had no issues against Swansea or Watford without the 23-year-old, but certainly lost ground on the top six with two of those losses coming in league games, so his return has certainly been timely for Hoff Thorup, despite his side going without a win in the last two outings.

Regardless of his suspension, his goal contributions make up 35% of all of the Canaries' 51 goals in the league up to now, so despite his recent loss of form, it is pretty obvious as to why they wanted to keep him around until at least the end of the season amid Girona and Napoli's respective January interest.

Prior to the winter window, it was made very clear by Canaries chief Mark Attanasio that they did not plan on parting ways with Sainz midway through the season, and even now, with less than 18 months left on his current contract, his comments do not give the feeling of the club being happy to sell him for any less than what they feel he is worth in the summer.

"We don't need to sell Borja in January. Frankly, we don't need to sell them ever," he told the PinkUn in November.

"We can control what we can control, in regards what happens to our players.

"It's just at some point there's an element of fairness, if I understand the ecosystem, where if you're getting offered a very fair price, and it doesn't have to be an extreme price, and it's something that someone wants to do then you have to look at it."

Sainz's price-tag will absolutely depend on his Canaries form in the season's run-in, as, if they want to demand such a high fee for his services, he will need to prove he can impress over a full season and not just in the first 18 games.

It is still very unclear what the future holds for the 23-year-old, but if he does not pick up his performances soon, then previous suitors are bound to move on, and he may well look to sign a new deal at Carrow Road.