How is ex-Norwich City midfielder Gabriel Sara getting on? | OneFootball

FLW looks at the Brazilian's start to life in Türkiye after leaving Carrow Road

Gabriel Sara was one of the bigger names who left the Championship this summer, opting to make the switch from Norwich City to Galatasaray.

The Brazilian midfielder was often the recipient of rave reviews throughout his time at Carrow Road, not just from Canaries supporters, but from plenty of outsiders for his quality on the ball in the centre of the park, which at times he made look effortless.

Given his aforementioned technical ability, it came as no surprise that Sara was the subject of strong interest from the Turkish side, as well as Leeds United, Leicester City and Crystal Palace, before his move to Rams Park, in a deal which Norwich reportedly believe they will receive a minimum of £20m, plus £2.5m in bonuses as well as holding a sell-on clause.

This came after it was revealed officially by Galatasaray that 'Cimbom Aslan' had only garnered a €18m (£15.3m) sum for Sara's services, which they stated would be paid in nine instalments across a three-season period.

However, it has now been a month since the 25-year-old bid farewell to the East Anglian outfit, and FLW looks at how Sara has adapted to life with the Turkish giants so far.

The beginning of Gabriel Sara's Galatasaray career

Since moving to Istanbul, Sara saw his debut come just five days after completing the highly-anticipated move from the Championship outfit, making a 33-minute cameo in a 2-1 victory over Hatayaspor at Rams Park, before making his first start for the club the following week in a success by the same scoreline away to Konyaspor.

One of the biggest attractions of a potential move to Türkiye was Galatasaray's potential involvement in the UEFA Champions League after winning the Super Lig with a staggering tally of 102 points last term, three clear of bitter rivals Fenerbahce.

However, despite starting both legs in the Play-Off round against Swiss side BSC Young Boys, Sara and his side were defeated 3-2 in the first leg away from home, before being dumped out of Europe's most prestigious competition on home turf, losing the return leg 1-0 at Rams Park on August 27th, meaning Galatasaray are involved in the newly-formatted UEFA Europa League 'League Phase', with their first encounter coming against Greek outfit PAOK on September 25th.

It was then revealed by Turkish news outlet, A Spor, that the creative midfielder would be missing in his new club's most recent league encounter with Adana Demispor, as Sara returned to England on "special leave" for the birth of his daughter, with Galatasaray issuing a statement soon after.

"We congratulate our Football Team players Gabriel Sara and his wife Maria Clara Montemór on the birth of their baby girl in England. We wish the couple and their newborn daughter Nala a long, healthy, and happy life."

Sara looks set to return to action the other side of the September international break, when Galatasaray play host to 12th-place Rizespor, as Okan Buruk's side look to maintain their 100 percent record.

Norwich City's performances without Gabriel Sara

Norwich will be extremely glad to have made a profit on the fee in excess of £10m paid to São Paulo under Dean Smith in July 2022, it will be extremely hard for any of Johannes Hoff Thorup's midfield options to emulate Sara's contributions from the middle of the park, which included a total of 25 goal contributions (13G+12A) across all 46 league games.

Despite losing Sara's services, according to Sofascore ratings, the duo of Kenny McLean and Marcelino Nunez have been the Canaries' fourth and fifth-best performers in a side that has still managed to retain the services of some high-end Championship quality in the form of the Chilean, as well as the previously in-demand Josh Sargent.

It had been an indifferent start for City's new Danish boss, but Hoff Thorup recorded his first league win in charge on Saturday afternoon, emerging 1-0 victors away to Coventry City, taking their points tally to five points out of the first four league games, a number they will hope to build on after the international period.