GABRIEL SARA
NORWICH CITY MIDFIELDER
ALI Al-Hamadi was not best pleased by his Ipswich teammate Sam Morsy’s omission from the Championship Team of the Season.
“Ridiculous,” wrote the Iraq international on X, but there are two very good reasons why Morsy didn’t make the cut.
One is Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, who can probably count himself unlucky not to have won the Player of the Season award after contributing 12 goals and 13 assists to Leicester’s promotion charge.
The other is Gabriel Sara. The Brazilian may not play for a top-three team but he is undoubtedly a top-three player, whose consistent excellence has stood in stark contrast to the fluctuating form of the Norwich side he represents.
“Some of Gabi’s performances are average and others are above average but he is never really below par,” said Canaries boss David Wagner. “He is an outstanding player, not only for us but in this division - no one has a doubt about this. It’s crystal clear.”
Sara’s late winner against Preston last weekend was his 12th goal of the season and he is one of just three players - alongside Dewsbury-Hall and Southampton striker Adam Armstrong - to have registered double figures for both goals and assists (11) this term.
For all the impressive returns, though, Sara’s great strength lies in his ability to do a little bit of everything, and do it all very well.
He can sniff out a tap-in. Score from range. Take set-pieces. Dictate play from a deep-lying midfield role, cause havoc as roving wideman, or rat and tackle in a midfield scrap.
“Gab is the full package,” said admiring team-mate Kenny McLean. “He controls games. He drives us forward. He’s everywhere off the ball. He’s aggressive and gets into people. The all-round ability is incredible.”
Sara’s arrival in the summer of 2022 was a step into the unknown for Norwich, who had previously lacked the infrastructure and contacts to recruit directly from South America.
Several years of painstaking work preceded the £6m deal struck with Sao Paulo, for whom the 24-year-old had scored 17 goals in 120 appearances in all competitions.
Switch
Initial signs were mixed. Sara naturally struggled to settle in his new surroundings and was hampered by his recovery from ankle surgery.
But the arrival of Wagner in January 2023 and a switch to a deeper position sparked Sara into life and a succession of impressive displays saw him end the campaign as the Norwich supp
