PLAYER PROFILE
NORWICH CITY STRIKER
JOSH SARGENT
THAT Josh Sargent looked out of his depth upon his arrival in the Premier League in the summer of 2021 is beyond doubt.
Even last season, after Norwich had been relegated to the Championship, the US international remained rough around the edges.
Yet over the course of the last eight months, Sargent has matured into arguably the best all-round forward in the division. His clinical proficiency and tactical awareness should guarantee the Canaries a significant profit on the 9.5m euros they paid Werder Bremen. If, that is, he doesn’t fire them to promotion himself.
Since the 24-year-old returned from ankle surgery in late December, he had scored ten goals in 14 matches ahead of the weekend’s fixtures.
Prior to suffering that injury against Huddersfield in August, he’d bagged three in four and recently overtook Leicester’s Jamie Vardy as the player with the best goals-to-minutes ratio in the Championship.
Sargent’s importance to Norwich is illustrated by the fact that David Wagner’s side averaged 1.2 points per game during the forward’s 20-game absence. Upon his return, that figure rocketed to 2.05 - better than the seasonal average of fourth-placed Southampton.
“It’s not a secret how our form went without him in the team,” admitted Norwich right-back Jack Stacey.
“It’s not just his goals but his hold-up play as well and how much we rely on him in our build-up to set the ball. He’s deceptively quick. Underrated in the air. He can run in behind or come to feet. He does the defensive work. Then anything in the box, he gets one big chance and takes it. I don’t want to say he is the best striker in the league, but I cannot think of another one.”
High praise indeed, and echoed by former Borussia Dortmund coach Wagner, who recently said Sargent ranked in the top three forwards he’d ever worked with. “Perhaps No.1, because he is the most complete,” added the German.
Even opposition managers are getting in on the act. “Being brutally honest, Norwich have got one of the best number nines in the league,” said Sunderland’s interim manager Mike Dodds, shortly before Sargent’s 89th-minute strike downed his team at Carrow Road.
Chances
Statistically, Sargent is outperforming not only the vast majority of Championship forwards but also his own numbers from last season. He has scored more goals, taken more shots, hit the target with greater frequency and created more chances for team-mates.
Compared to other Championship s
