It has been a challenging start to the new Championship season for Norwich City. With new head coach Johannes Hoff Thorup now in situ, the Canaries fell to a 2-0 defeat at second tier newcomers Oxford United on the opening day of the campaign before edging past Stevenage in a seven-goal thriller in the first round of the Carabao Cup.
A first win looked to be in the bag on Saturday afternoon after the Canaries bounced back from falling behind to a goal from Blackburn Rovers forward Ryan Hedges to take a lead into the closing stages thanks to goals from Josh Sargent and Borja Sainz. However, a late Yuki Ohashi equaliser ensured Thorup’s men head into next weekend’s home game with Sheffield United still looking for a first league win of the season.
That game will precede the final week of the summer transfer window and it remains to be seen whether Thorup will conduct any further business. We were intrigued by what he could do so we fired up Football Manager, updated the Canaries squad to its present form and allowed the world’s most popular managerial simulation predict how the final 10 days of the window could play out at Carrow Road.
Goalkeepers
There was just one change in Thorup’s goalkeeping ranks after Dan Barden was allowed to spend the season on loan at Barrow.
Thorup’s goalkeeping options: Gunn, Long, Mair.
Defenders
Thorup brought in three new signings and one of them was a familiar face as former loan signing Brandon Williams penned a permanent deal as a free agent. Serbian centre-back Erhan Masovic arrived in a £3m deal from German club Bochim and £750k enough to persuade Nottingham Forest to sell Harry Toffolo. The only departure saw youngster Brad Hills join Championship rivals Queens Park Rangers in a £425k switch.
Thorup’s defensive options: Doyle, Cordoba, Duffy, Hanley, Chrisene, Stacey, Fisher, Toffolo, Masovic, Williams.
Midfielders
Just the one arrival and no further departures in midfield as Michele Collocolo joined in a £5m from Italian Serie B side Cremonese.
Thorup’s midfield options: McLean, Gibbs, Nunez, Forson, Sorensen, Collocolo
Forwards
It was a case of one in, one out at the top end of the pitch for the Canaries. However, the big news is that Thorup managed to retain the services of in-demand attacker Jonathan Rowe, who was the subject of bids from Leicester City, Brighton and Hove Albion and Everton – but opted to remain at Carrow Road. He was joined by Liverpool youngster Jayden Danns after he penned a season-long loan deal with the Canaries. Winger Tony Springett was the player to depart as he joined League One club Charlton Athletic on loan.
Thorup’s forward options: Barnes, Sargent, Kamara, Fassnacht, Hernandez, Sainz, Rowe, Danns.
Ins – Total spend = £16m
Forson (£3.5m from RB Salzburg), Cordoba (£2.75m from Levski Sofia), Chrisene (£1m from Aston Villa), Doyle (loan from Manchester City), Danns (loan from Liverpool), Toffolo (£750k from Nottingham Forest), Masovic (£3m to Bochum), Williams (free transfer), Collocolo (£5m from Cremonese)
Outs – Total received = £24m
Sara (£15m to Galatasaray), Idah (£7m to Celtic), Tzolis (£2m to Fortuna Dusseldorf), Giannoulis, Gibson, McCallum, Batth (all released), Springett (loan to Charlton Athletic), Hills (£425k to QPR), Barden (loan to Barrow)
