Norwich City Boss Thorup On Abu Kamara Status With Canaries Amid Transfer Talks

Abu Kamara can force his way into frontline Championship service for Norwich City head coach Johannes Hoff Thorup.

The exciting wide player, who starred in Portsmouth’s League One title triumph on loan last season, has so far had two late league cameos from the bench under the Dane.

Kamara is being touted with transfer interest from home and abroad this summer, with the 21-year-old in the final year of his current deal, although the Canaries have a further one year option.

But Thorup knows the winger has the talent to follow Gabe Forsyth into his starting line up, after Kamara notched his first senior goal for the club in the recent League Cup win over Stevenage.

“He can definitely contribute,” said the City boss. “Not just with his quick feet up front and his good finishing ability but we also saw with another of the goals in that game how he is improving, in terms of his link up play with other players.

“What we as a coaching team needs to make sure of is that we create a pathway for some of these younger guys, because there’s potential, but we also have to respect that it will not be perfect, and it’ll not be from day one that we can sit back and say, ‘Okay, it was just exactly how we wanted’. There will be ups and downs.”

Thorup took a hands on role in new contracts for both Scottish teenager Forsyth and centre back Brad Hills, announced in the past week.

“It’s good players we want to work with here,” he said. “I hope that everyone can see that maybe they are not 100pc ready for the team, but they are about to be ready, and they need the support, they need the respect so they can develop and they can get the minutes they need.

“And hopefully in the future, whether that’s in six months or 12 months, or whatever, they need to be potential starters for the club.

“We should celebrate when we have academy players (Adam Idah) leaving the building for a fee that we can all see is a good fee, and they’re ready to take the next step.

“That should be a good day for us, because it gives us the possibilities to invest in the group again, and to invest in more future players so we can see more and more of our young players.

“And some of these I talk about here right now are Brad Hills and Gabe Forsyth. I was very delighted that we could reach an agreement with both, because they are the future of this team.”