"Josh Brownhill" - Norwich City told to "look overseas" in summer free agent discussion | OneFootball

The Canaries have been urged to not pursue any Championship players out of contract in the summer of 2025

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…

It has been something of a mixed season at Norwich City so far, with the Canaries’ first campaign under Johannes Hoff Thorup seeing them on the fringes of the play-off picture.

The Norfolk side are one of a number of clubs who will harbour hopes of breaking into the top six between now and the end of the season, with just four points separating themselves and West Bromwich Albion in the final play-off space right now.

Regardless of where they end up, City will be looking to add to their playing squad for the next campaign, and could well have their sights set on a freebie or two, as players’ contracts come to an end at their current club.

With that in mind, we posed the question to Football League World’s Norwich fan pundit Zeke Downes as to which out-of-contract Championship stars could be tempting when the summer comes around.

Norwich City transfer policy will decide free agent possibilities

Picking up free agents isn’t something that City did in the previous off-season, with the club paying a fee for each of their five arrivals last summer while adding another three loan stars to their playing squad.

That is opposed to the summer before, where seven new signings didn’t command a transfer fee, with the likes of Borja Sainz and Shane Duffy being picked up for peanuts in between the 22/23 and 23/24 campaigns.

Alongside those pickups were the less fruitful additions of Adam Forshaw and Danny Batth, which proves just how temperamental the market can be in terms of success stories.

You always have to question why a divisional rival would willingly see a player leave the club, but with the next cohort looking set to play the field this summer, Downes isn’t entirely fixated with any contenders.

With the Canaries happily doing their business with clubs further afield more often than not, and having a penchant for picking up players of South American origin, the City fan is content that his side will likely give many of the players without a contract a wide berth in the months to come.

When asked which on this list may tempt his side, he said: “I think the only player that is out of contract this summer in the Championship would be Josh Brownhill, maybe.

“Even then, he is 29, but he is has got some really good experience, and is a top player in this league. I would imagine he would get a new contract though, so I don’t think that would really happen.

“Other than him, I wouldn’t be looking at anyone else. We are pretty well-stocked now really in the squad. I know we are going to be losing a couple at the end of the season, like Onel Hernandez probably, Jacob Sorensen, maybe Angus Gunn and Tony Springett.

“That will leave a bit of a gap, but I don’t see any Championship free agents coming in to fill that gap, we are more likely to look overseas.”

Josh Brownhill key name to become Championship free agent in summer of 2025

Brownhill tops the bill in terms of his proposed availability this summer, with the Burnley midfielder yet to make a decision about where his future lies at the end of the current season.

The 29-year-old has been linked to a number of Premier League clubs in the past, with Everton, Wolves and Brentford all said to be interested in his services during the recent winter transfer window.

Other high-profile names on the list include Leeds United full-back Junior Firpo, who is set to come to the end of the four-year deal he signed at Elland Road back in the summer of 2021, while Blackburn Rovers’ playmaker Tyrhys Dolan also looks to assess his options as a free agent.

As well as Brownhill [pictured], Burnley could also be waving goodbye to the likes of Connor Roberts and Nathan Redmond this summer, while West Bromwich Albion creator-in-chief Grady Diangana also looks to be departing the Hawthorns.

Despite the quality on the list, Downes is confident his side are better off following their transfer strategy of last summer, and spreading the net far and wide to tempt global talents to Carrow Road.