Norwich City: How Mark Attanasio impacts Borja Sainz

The collective sigh was almost tangible across Norfolk as reports emerged of Norwich City's star man and his interest in a potential move to Turkish giants Galatasaray.

Shortly beforehand Athletic Bilbao sporting director Mikel Gonzalez had admitted to his club's tracking of their former academy player, and only weeks earlier Atletico Madrid were thrown into the bargain as potential suitors. The torrent of speculation hardly seems to have ceased around Sainz this season.

It isn't, of course, the first time that Canaries fans have had to endure this. They've long been made to deal with fears and frets of losing their favourites, as fans of the majority of clubs across the globe have.

But this time around things might be a little different. City remain a selling club, and sporting director Ben Knapper is keen on a model in which players are signed for very little, improved and moved on for a significant profit. Sainz would be the perfect example, having arrived on a free transfer nearly 18 months ago.

The Canaries are keen to hold onto Borja Sainz in January (Image: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd)

The difference, however, is that they don't need to sell this January. Knapper will undoubtedly have to field calls throughout the first month of next year, but the financial future of his employers won't depend on doing so. That was the position he set out at City's AGM last month, and it's the one soon-to-be majority shareholder Mark Attanasio repeated to the media afterwards.

Ask anyone behind the scenes at Colney and they'll tell you exactly the same. The plan has not changed on the 23-year-old, whom they expect to be a Norwich player in February barring an outlandish offer.

In prior years that may not have been the case. So often those fans' fears have been realised, their club forced to sell its prized assets when finances had to come first to keep them afloat.

That's where Attanasio's involvement, from March 2025 as the figurehead, has changed things. Although money will always play a key part in sporting considerations, Knapper and his colleagues on the football side of the operation can think first about exactly that: football.

The American wasn't shy in that interview, revealing that profit and sustainability rules were more of an object to spending power than actual monetary muscle, and that's a first for City. They won't need to simply suck up the damage losing Sainz would do to their hopes for the rest of the season, or base prospective purchases on a shoestring budget.

Add to that the fact that any contribution toward infrastructure or the women's team avoids P&S scrutiny and the contribution Attanasio's Norfolk Holdings group can make is clear. For years fans could talk about it, and now they're starting to see the impacts.

That truly began in the summer, when Knapper was able to invest in talents he saw potential in rather than scraping the bottom of the bargain bucket in search of hidden gems. That looks like being the case once again this winter, even if there is more of a focus on preventing outs than completing ins.

One thing's for sure, and that's that if Sainz remains in NR1 beyond the transfer deadline those supporters will be delighted. Knapper would be heralded for his negotiating skills, as he rightly was for a number of deals back in August.

What shouldn't be forgotten, though, is Attanasio's contribution. Like it or not, top-level football has moved into an era where financial backing is increasingly important. Holding onto key players has always been tough, but it's getting even more so for clubs without wealthy benefactors.

But City aren't one of those anymore, and that's why supporters can go into the upcoming window with hope that they won't lose their talisman.