Norwich City chief Johannes Hoff Thorup has admitted that he is “not looking forward to January” after Borja Sainz bagged another hat-trick against Plymouth Argyle on Tuesday evening.
The Spanish forward made sure to take advantage of the weak defence that he was up against in midweek. The Canaries put 6 past Wayne Rooney’s team while only conceding one themselves; Sainz scored half of the half-dozen and took home the match ball.
With 17 games gone already in this Championship season, the 23-year-old winger leads the league in goals (14) and combined goals and assists (16). He has scored those 14 goals from an expected goals (xG) of 7.61, almost doubling his tally compared to the number of chances he was expected to take.
| Borja Sainz’s 24/25 stats (Championship) | |
|---|---|
| Apps | 17 |
| Starts | 17 |
| Goals | 14 |
| xG | 7.61 |
| Assists | 2 |
| Big chances created | 5 |
| Source: Sofascore – correct as of 27/11/24 | |
Johannes Hoff Thorup’s worried Borja Sainz, January admission
This white-hot form has already stoked the interest of some big European clubs, like Galatasaray. More and more attention is expected to be diverted in the Norwich player’s direction as the new year approaches, something that his manager is biting his nails about.
“I’m not looking forward to January,” said Hoff Thorup on the winger, via Pink Un. “We have to accept that, and we have to understand that of course, a third season away from the Premier League, it’s a different one in terms of budget and financial situation.
“Also with the change of strategy here the next ones are also out there in the squad, but maybe on the bench, or maybe just a part of the squad, or playing some under 21 minutes at the moment, but those guys are the next ones, and we have to prepare that so there’s a consistent flow in what we do here.
“Hopefully when he travels to a bigger destination than here, then another one is ready. Otherwise we haven’t done our job good enough.
“He has (gone to another level) and that’s a part of what we can expect to see with the way that we play. Because if you go back and watch his goals, then you can see that he ends up in more or less the same situation and position every time.
“For him then it is to take the right decision and also to show that individual quality where, again, like I’ve said a couple of times, that’s not my part. I can make sure that the collective structure is there, so we support him the best possible way, so we get him into these areas of the game and on the pitch, and then for him to show that class. But he’s definitely taking steps.”
Norwich must have Borja Sainz contingency plan ready for January
Like the Danish boss touched on after the win over Plymouth, when Sainz seemingly inevitably leaves Norwich, although the club’s owner, Mark Attanasio, has said that they don’t need to sell him in this window, and the sporting director, Ben Knapper, is supposedly working on a new deal for the 23-year-old, a replacement needs to be ready in waiting.
Some big clubs have reported interest in the goalscoring winger.
Is that much easier said than done? Of course it is; very few players can guarantee you that sort of goal return. Still, though, City need to make sure that they are ready for all outcomes in the January window.
There doesn’t appear to be an obvious heir within Norwich’s ranks already, so they may need to do some shopping in the new year with the money that they prospectively get from selling Sainz. But they can’t wait until that sale goes through before they start looking for replacements – that needs to happen now.
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