Norwich City: Josh Sargent analysed after USMNT injury scare

It was transfer deadline day, with two significant pieces of first-team business still to be confirmed by Norwich City and fans eager to get to bed before an early trip to Coventry the following morning.

Kaide Gordon's season-long loan arrival was soon to be confirmed, Abu Kamara's permanent exit ditto, but those who had defied their wearies eyes were focused on one significant achievement: Josh Sargent remained a Norwich player.

There had been talk early in the day about Brentford's interest, whether they'd turn to Sargent as an urgent Ivan Toney replacement. Bournemouth were also linked earlier in the window, with £20million interest from the MLS rebuffed.

But on Saturday, August 31, despite all the other sales and the financial realities, the American was still a Canary.

The American's City stay survived a summer of speculation (Image: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd)
He underlined the importance of that fact in the lunchtime kick-off, given little to feed on at times but playing a vital role in getting his side up the pitch. He hassled and harried out of possession, held the ball up well in it, and created the space for match-winner Borja Sainz to convert the game's only goal.

Any illusions that he could be done without were quickly dispatched, although in truth there weren't many beforehand. This performance was just a continuation of his sublime start to the season, having starred in strong showings against Blackburn and Sheffield United.

It's no surprise the side's upturn in form came alongside his opening two goals of the Championship term. First an unerring strike powered into the roof of the Rovers net, before his precise and intelligent movement earned him a simple finish against the Blades.

But it hasn't been just his goals, as well-taken as they were. The unselfish running, powerful dribbling and tactical awareness of that Coventry win were analogous to his previous performances.

Witnesses of his imperial last campaign will have assumed as much, but it hasn't been a straightforward task for the 24-year-old.

He's gone from a system almost created for players of his like, with numerous long balls in behind and the requirement of a physical presence, to one based on entirely different principles. Now the idea is possession and control, where David Wagner's setup was made to create chaos in the final third.

Sargent's seamless transition from one to the other has been exactly what City needed in this period of evolution. Getting Hoffball exactly right will take time, but any player able to do so quickly is an extremely welcome bonus.

That's why the striker's latest fitness worry has caused such unrest among the fan base. It feels almost like déjà vu, a repetition of the situation that saw no games for him between the September 2023 international break and December 29's trip to Millwall.

Those supporters remember the barren Autumn run of Hwang Ui-jo and Adam Idah's futile striking battle, of humiliating losses to Sunderland and Plymouth Argyle. As positive as the mood is now, that period highlighted how big a loss Sargent could be.

In that sense, the revelation of the seriousness of that left ankle issue feels like it could be a big moment in City's season. It feels again like things could turn on a press conference, rather than any of the good work that's been done to improve things on the pitch.

There are few, if any, forwards better than their number nine in the division, and that can be a blessing and a curse. A blessing for all the aforementioned qualities, and a curse when it comes to squad depth in his position. He has only Ashley Barnes, coming back from calf surgery, and Ante Crnac, a 20-year-old still adapting to English football, to back him up.

The Johannes Hoff Thorup era was never going to be without its issues along the way, and injuries are part of the game. Sporting director Ben Knapper knows as much, and will have accounted for them in his squad planning.

But for a variety of reasons, not least the form he's already shown under Thorup, it's easy to see why fans are anxiously awaiting details on their star man's setback.