Johannes Hoff Thorup has assured Norwich City fans that none of his players will be sold on the cheap, after Josh Sargent admitted that he has a decision to make this summer.
The Canaries made a habit of lucrative sales in pre-season, bringing in more than £40million when Gabriel Sara, Jonathan Rowe and Adam Idah left the club.
With speculation swirling around Sargent amid his admission that “there will be a few options this summer”, head coach Thorup is determined to continue the pattern for any future wantaway stars.
“Our culture is 100pc not for players who don’t want to be here,” he said. “I’m not saying that Josh doesn’t want to be here, but as a general perspective. Then we’ll definitely find a solution.
“Last summer we also told everyone that if they don’t want to be here we’ll sort a solution. But that solution will not be just to let players go for free, which we also saw last summer.
“We accept it if the deal is alright, otherwise we’ll find another solution, whether that’s to play with another team in training every day or whatever.”
The 36-year-old wasn’t irked by his charge’s comments, instead believing that transfer consideration is just a natural part of a player’s career.
“We forget about [the speculation]Â for now,” he continued. “But honestly I know that every player will think about their situation when the season is over, whether it’s Sargent or a player who hasn’t played that much or a player who is in and out of the team.
“I think everyone will do that, that’s natural in football. So I think that’s fair, and I think that at the end of the season he needs to see if he should consider a next step in his career.
“That next step could easily be here as well, so I didn’t see anything in that quote that said ‘I 100pc have to leave’. So I think it’s fair to say that players will always have those thoughts when it’s the end of a season. That’s simply what they have to do.”
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