Latest news with #BenKnapper
BBC News
07-08-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
'A brave new world. And we like it.'
A new season. A new head not unfamiliar to City fans, who have had a different head coach in their technical area for every season opener since Manning is merely the latest holder of the baton, following on from Daniel Farke, Dean Smith, David Wagner, and Johannes Hoff stability being widely acknowledged as one of the key elements of a successful team, the Yellow Army will be hoping Manning's time in NR1 extends way beyond in the here and now, things look nicely shipshape, with a significant summer player churn giving this current Norwich City team a very different look and feel. A much-needed Class of 2024-25 had their moments and ended last season as the Championship's second-highest goalscorers, but they badly lacked consistency. They also, at times, lacked backbone, oomph, bottle, and bravery; key qualities that City's sporting director Ben Knapper has looked to add to the group this the time of writing, 11 new faces have arrived, which includes a complete overhaul of the goalkeeping department and two new starting far, the only big-name departure has been Borja Sainz, who left to join FC Porto for a reported £14.25m, although rumours around the future of top scorer Josh Sargent refuse to go away. But, with or without the American, Manning's new-look Norwich team appears to be a more combative and solid unit than the one that eventually floundered under the tutelage of too long now, City fans have watched their heroes flounder when the going gets tough. A soft underbelly was how it was often described, but other descriptions are available, including lily-livered and not too much can be read into the results and performances of pre-season, the physical profile of this new City team differs from the one Norwich fans have become accustomed latest addition, Mirko Topic, from Portuguese side Famalicao, is a defensive midfielder of considerable stature – 6 ft 3 in for those who are counting – and will add some badly-needed ballast to an area of the pitch that has all too often been afflicted with hot-knife-through-butter Topic, assisted by the new centre-back pairing of Harry Darling and Jacov Medic, can help the team survive the difficult moments instead of them collapsing like a poorly-made Delia Smith soufflé, then that will be a massive win for Knapper and very early signs are promising, with Manning's first XI concluding their pre-season with two clean sheets – a 0-0 draw in the Netherlands against Den Haag and a 2-0 home win over NEC newfound solidity has, as things stand, compromised the team's in-possession attacking flow, but given the defensive horrors of last season, most City fans have already agreed it's a price worth it's a balance that the City head coaches listed at the start of this piece failed to strike – aside from Farke, whose time in the Fine City was extraordinary – with a recurring problem being the lack of a defensively-inclined central midfielder since Alex Tettey's departure in desperately hope that Topic, with a hazelnut in every biting tackle, will fill that it's not just improvements on the pitch that have lifted the spirits of the Yellow Army. Off it, too, a new dawn is summer's transfer window is the first with US businessman and owner of the Milwaukee Brewers, Mark Attanasio, at the helm. He and his Norfolk Holdings group now have full control of the club, and their approach to dealings in the transfer market couldn't differ more from those overseen by previous owners, Delia Smith and Michael it was a tepid, frugal, austerity-driven approach that often saw the club scratching around bargain basements for players other teams didn't want. Now it's bullish, brave, and positive, with targets identified, hunted down, and secured with the minimum of of this waiting for Player A to be sold and the funds received before we can even think about bidding for Player B. If Knapper wants Player A and Player A aligns with the wider plan, then Attanasio and Norfolk Holdings will do everything they can to make the deal is most un-Norwich-like. Uncharted territory. A brave new we like longer are we at a significant disadvantage before a player is signed or a ball kicked. Now we compete on a level footing with our peers, which is great news for City fans while heaping all kinds of pressure on Knapper (for all the right reasons).Those now in power at Norwich City have openly declared that the aim is a top-six finish this season, in the same way Attanasio has made it quite clear the ultimate goal is a return to the Premier and his people are not here to mess about, which is why the player churn has been City fans, we're still not sure where this journey is going to take us, but there's a growing feeling that it could be the Ball City.
Yahoo
24-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Norwich sign ex-Crystal Palace defender Schlupp
Norwich City have signed free agent Jeffrey Schlupp on a one-year deal. The utility player, 32, was released by Crystal Palace in May after eight years with the south London club. Schlupp had a loan spell at Celtic during the 2024-25 campaign and made 13 league appearances for the Scottish champions. The Ghana international was part of the Leicester City squad that won the Premier League title in 2016. "I'm really excited, it's something new again but a lot to look forward to back in the Championship at a big club," Schlupp told the club's website. "I've spoken to the head coach [Liam Manning] about the plan for this year and I am excited to be involved." Schlupp becomes the club's eighth signing this summer and will provide cover for the left side of the defence but can also operate as a midfielder. Norwich's sporting director Ben Knapper said: "He is a player of immense experience having played at the highest levels both domestically and internationally for many years. "His quality, versatility and character will all be great assets for us, and he will serve as a fantastic reference point for our younger players in particular this season." Norwich begin their 2025-26 Championship campaign at home to Millwall on Saturday, 9 August [15:00 BST]. Transfers - July 2025 'I promised Delia we would open our chequebook' Latest Norwich City news and analysis Listen to BBC Radio Norfolk's The Scrimmage podcast
BBC News
24-07-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Norwich sign ex-Crystal Palace defender Schlupp
Norwich City have signed free agent Jeffrey Schlupp on a one-year utility player, 32, was released by Crystal Palace in May after eight years with the south London had a loan spell at Celtic during the 2024-25 campaign and made 13 league appearances for the Scottish Ghana international was part of the Leicester City squad that won the Premier League title in 2016. "I'm really excited, it's something new again but a lot to look forward to back in the Championship at a big club," Schlupp told the club's website., external"I've spoken to the head coach [Liam Manning] about the plan for this year and I am excited to be involved."Schlupp becomes the club's eighth signing this summer and will provide cover for the left side of the defence but can also operate as a sporting director Ben Knapper said: "He is a player of immense experience having played at the highest levels both domestically and internationally for many years."His quality, versatility and character will all be great assets for us, and he will serve as a fantastic reference point for our younger players in particular this season."Norwich begin their 2025-26 Championship campaign at home to Millwall on Saturday, 9 August [15:00 BST].
BBC News
15-07-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Norwich chief admits 'big interest' in Sargent
Sporting director Ben Knapper has assured Norwich City fans that Josh Sargent will be replaced if "big interest" in the striker brings big transfer Canaries are understood to have held talks with Burnley and Wolfsburg about the USA international, who is under contract until spoke to City fans at Carrow Road on Tuesday as part of a special summer episode of BBC Radio Norfolk's Scrimmage show, and was asked if the 25-year-old would be staying."We don't know at this point, there's big interest in the player," Knapper said. "As of now, no, is the answer, but of course there is big interest in the player, I think that is well known."As always with these things it has to work for everyone. Josh is always going to command big interest. There is big clubs in the big five leagues who are expressing a lot of interest in him and he is also ambitious."We're ambitious as a club and we try to attract ambitious players and then it's difficult for us to hold that against them."It has to work for us. At the minute nothing has, he's a Norwich player and I'll just turn my phone off for the next few weeks and [hope] that will remain so."City's football chief was alongside head coach Liam Manning, majority shareholder Mark Attanasio and executive director Zoe Webber for the while Knapper could not provide clarity on Sargent's situation, he did state that the recent £6.9m addition of Denmark forward Mathias Kvistgaarden was not a pre-emptive replacement for the American."There's definitely going to be more activity in the front line, even if Josh doesn't go," Knapper said. "So we're not done in terms of our transfer activity, there's still things that we're working on."There's still going to be movement on the way in, even if there are no other outs because we still feel like we want to add at least another option or two in wide areas to give us flexibility in terms of how we attack."But of course if we were to lose another offensive player then we would add again." Kvistgaarden, 23, has been the eye-catching signing of the summer so far for Norwich. It follows the recruitment of Manning from Bristol City with the hope of bouncing back from a disappointing 13th place in the Championship last Norwich-born head coach said Kvistgaarden coming in showed the ambition of the club."When I first joined, he was one of the first ones that Ben (Knapper) and Lee (Dunn, head of recruitment) put in front of me and I'm super excited by him," Manning said."[He is] a great indicator about the ambition that we are trying to have, that we are able to attract someone of that level, with the level of interest that he had."You'll be surprised when you see him. He's 5ft 9ins but when you see him run, jump, he scores a lot of headers which for someone of his size is quite unusual."But great energy, a big character, part of him coming was the challenge of making him better, so he's really aware of his career and where he's at so super excited by him."He'll obviously have to get used to the Championship, which is a different beast, so our job is to manage him, support him, and give him everything he needs to deliver."Click here to watch the summer Scrimmage special back in full.
BBC News
13-07-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Sainz leaves Norwich to join Porto on five-year deal
Winger Borja Sainz has left Norwich City and joined Porto for £ 24-year-old has signed a five-year deal with the 30-time Portuguese champions following a two-year spell at Carrow was the club's top scorer last season with 18 Championship goals despite missing six games through suspension as a result of a spitting Spaniard joined the Canaries from Turkish side Giresunspor in June 2023. Norwich sporting director Ben Knapper told the club website: "During his time with us, his performances and impact have been brilliant. He gave us all many memorable moments, scored some spectacular goals and was often the deciding factor in many of our games."This is a fantastic move for all parties, with Borja now progressing onto the next stage of his career with a top European club in FC Porto."It also demonstrates once again our ability to identify and develop players for the highest levels of the game, and everyone involved deserves huge credit for their work."The Canaries were bracing themselves for Sainz's departure and have brought in Denmark international Mathias Kvistgaarden who can operate as a striker and remains to be seen if forward Josh Sargent will follow Sainz out of club - the United States international has been linked with a move to Premier League new boys Burnley but has three years left on his contract. In his first season at Norwich, Sainz scored on his debut in an EFL Cup tie against Fulham and went on to add another seven goals in all competitions, including a memorable FA Cup goal against Liverpool at began the 2024-25 season in blistering fashion scoring 16 goals from 20 appearances in all competitions, a run including two hat-tricks against Derby County and Plymouth his form dipped in the second half of the campaign and he only added two more to his tally, finishing second in the Championship top scorer list behind Leeds United's Joel dip in form was compounded by Sainz receiving a six-match ban for spitting at Sunderland defender Chris Mepham in the game at the Stadium of Light in December made a full apology for the incident, saying in a statement: "Spitting at an opponent is completely out of character for me, and my reaction in that moment was unacceptable....I am deeply disappointed in myself and for letting all of you down through my conduct."Speaking following Norwich's 3-1 pre-season win over Northampton Town on Saturday, new head coach Liam Manning told BBC Radio Norfolk that Sainz's move was a "terrific deal" for the added: "It allows us to improve the team, and that's part and parcel of football now. "My job is to concentrate on what we've got here and how we get the group ready for next week and beyond. We're working hard behind the scenes to add. "There are still a few faces we need to add and will add so we'll keep pushing on that and make the squad as strong as we can."
