Norwich City have been urged to tie down Emi Marcondes to a longer contract by triggering the one-year extension option included in the Dane’s current deal, which is due to expire at the end of the 2024/25 Championship campaign.
Star attacking pair Josh Sargent and Borja Sainz have grabbed the headlines at Carrow Road this term, and with good reason. Collectively, Sargent and Sainz have directly accounted for 62.5 per cent of the Canaries’ 56 goals – a return which, at an average of 1.6 per match, is second in the Championship behind league leaders Leeds United.
However, Marcondes has grown in importance since his arrival at the club as a free agent back in October, when he agreed on a deal until the end of the season that could be extended for a further year, should Norwich decide to take up that option.
The 29-year-old, who has twice achieved promotion from the Championship in years gone by with Brentford and Bournemouth, has been a classy operator for Johannes Hoff Thorup in recent times.
Marcondes has registered three assists and a goal in his last four games, with his performances helping Norwich remain in contention for a play-off spot.
| Emi Marcondes’ 24/25 Championship stats for Norwich City via FotMob, as of March 3 | |
| Appearances | 24 |
| Goals | 4 |
| Assists | 6 |
| xG | 5.25 |
| xA | 2.70 |
| Chances created | 42 |
| Successful crosses | 27 |
| Successful dribbles | 4 |
The experienced attacking midfielder has four goals and six assists under his belt from 24 appearances overall, which means Norwich may be left with a rather simple decision when it comes to addressing his longer-term future with the side.
Norwich City urged to take Emi Marcondes contract action
FLW spoke with our resident Canaries fan pundit, Zeke Downes, about whether he believes Norwich should be looking to trigger their one-year extension option or if an upgrade is required in the summer.
Zeke has urged his side to agree a new, potentially long-term contract with Marcondes, who he believes would be extremely beneficial as a squad player at the very least.
“I definitely think that we need to trigger the one-year option on Emi Marcondes,” Zeke told FLW.
“I wouldn’t be against giving him a longer contract, but I guess if we only do the one-year then it protects us if he gets injured or something like that.
“I think he’s a really good player to have in the squad. He’s also creating a lot of chances and getting assists, so I don’t think it’s a difficult decision to trigger that one-year.
“I imagine that most of our fans would agree with that as well.
“It’s just about keeping him fit, but he is a really good player to have in the squad even if he’s not a starter. You know that if he’s on the bench, you can bring him on and he will make things happen so that’s a really good option for us to have.”
Emi Marcondes’ experience is vital for Norwich City
Marcondes is a seasoned, senior pro in what is a rather young and experienced Championship squad across the board.
Only a small handful of players at Thorup’s disposal have prior experience in gaining promotion from this division and the club have looked to take a more continental, youth-centred approach to recruitment in recent windows.
Marcondes is a relative anomaly, then, but his proven experience of competing at the top-end and even getting out of the Championship is an asset which simply cannot be overlooked.
He will be hoping to replicate those same successes with Norwich, and deserves to be kept around next season for a fresh promotion push if they fall short of making the play-offs this time around.
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