Football League World
·16 August 2024
"Keep him" - Norwich City urged to resist Celtic transfer interest given Jon Rowe exit talk
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Football League World
·16 August 2024
FLW's Canaries fan pundit believes Kamara should be kept around, but his future depends on Jon Rowe's potential move
This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…
Norwich City have been urged to keep in-demand winger Abu Kamara at the club this month but his future is thought to depend on whether Jon Rowe leaves amid transfer interest in him from the Championship and abroad.
Kamara has been linked with a move away from Carrow Road with the new season already underway, after journalist Pete O'Rourke reported that Celtic had joined the race for the 21-year-old's services, alongside Hull City.
The Tigers have also been quoted with interest in Kamara by O'Rourke after he stated that they enquired about him earlier this month and were considering a bid to bolster their attacking options.
Kamara has been with Norwich since he joined the youth academy at the age of 10 in 2013 and has worked his way up the youth teams to become a part of their senior squad for this campaign after a successful loan in League One with Portsmouth last season.
The 21-year-old seriously impressed at Fratton Park in 2023/24 as John Mousinho's side won the League One title, registering 10 goals and 11 assists in 52 games in all competitions, and now could be on the move from Carrow Road as a result.
Aside from Kamara's possible departure, the Canaries have a few different outgoing transfer situations involving their players that are up in the air as it stands, with fellow winger Rowe the subject of reported transfer interest from Leeds United and AS Monaco, while striker Adam Idah is closing in on a return to Celtic after an apparent £9.5m bid was accepted.
Football League World's Norwich fan pundit Zeke Downes believes that Kamara's services should be retained due to the lack of quality replacements among Johannes Hoff Thorup's ranks if Rowe leaves the club soon, but thinks he could depart if the Leeds-linked star stays at Carrow Road.
“Abu Kamara should be kept, especially because now the Rowe situation is up in the air and Adam Idah is leaving,” Zeke told FLW.
“We’ve only really got Borja Sainz, Onel Hernandez and Christian Fassnacht as wingers, and Sainz is the only one that is really a nailed-on starter there.
“We’ve got a couple of other younger players, but they aren’t ready to be having the minutes, whereas Kamara is on the cusp.
“I think he just needs to be given time, especially because last night when he scored and assisted in the cup and looked good.
“We just need to give him time and minutes rather than letting him go out on loan unless we can bring another player in of that mould if Rowe goes.
“If Rowe stays, we might be okay to let him leave on loan. We don’t want another Adam Idah situation, where he wasn’t sent out on loan and that actually was a detriment to him in the end, because he never got the experience and was just behind Pukki all the time.
“I would personally keep him, but if Rowe stays, I can see him being loaned out.”
Norwich are aiming high under their new boss, and he will want to keep the majority of his top talents to give his side the best chance of a push for promotion this season.
Gabriel Sara has already departed Carrow Road for Galatasaray this summer, and Rowe would be a huge loss to their strike force if he does leave, so the Canaries cannot afford to also lose Kamara with just over two weeks of the window left.
Norwich's depth in the final third is lacking, especially on the wing, and to let a player of Kamara's talent go would surely be a short-sighted decision by the club, especially after he starred with a goal and an assist in their 4-3 win over Stevenage in the first round of the EFL Cup on August 13, in a performance that will undoubtedly have pushed him to the forefront of Hoff Thorup's mind.
The 21-year-old seems like a ready-made replacement for the Canaries on the wide right, if Rowe does leave, and even if not, it would certainly not make sense for them to sell one of their best youngsters to a fellow Championship team, such as Hull, or a club where he is unlikely to be given first-team chances any sooner than at Carrow Road, like Celtic.