"Aston Villa have made a mistake" - Norwich City transfer questioned after West Brom recall | OneFootball

FLW's West Brom fan pundit has his say on Lewis Dobbin's impending move to Norwich City

Aston Villa forward Lewis Dobbin is set to join Norwich City on loan for the remainder of the season after being recalled from West Bromwich Albion.

According to The Athletic, the winger has had his spell at the Hawthorns come to an end and is now set to make the switch to Johannes Hoff Thorup’s side.

Dobbin made 17 appearances for Albion since joining on loan in the summer but only one of those came as a start.

He struggled for game time under both Carlos Corberan and interim boss Chris Brunt while he was unable to contribute a single goal or assist for the West Midlands outfit.

Lewis Dobbin Norwich transfer verdict

When asked whether Dobbin can make an impact at Norwich, FLW’s West Brom fan pundit Callum claimed that it’s a surprising move as he doesn’t expect the player to receive much game time.

He believes that Aston Villa have made a mistake by moving the 21-year-old to Carrow Road as he will now have to compete for minutes against Borja Sainz.

“I did think that Lewis Dobbin would head to a team further down in the table, somewhere where he would have a more of a guarantee of consistent game time,” Burgess told Football League World.

“So I’m a bit surprised to see him head to a team like Norwich, where he’s going to be competing directly with Borja Sainz’s place in the team.

“You can tell by the end of his loan spell, Dobbin was lacking in confidence.

“He had lost the ability where, when he first came in his first few substitute appearances, he did look like he’d be willing to take on a man.

“But, in his final few games for us, you could tell he was really lacking in confidence to be able to do that.

“So I think, if he is able to get more consistent game time, he could end up proving Albion fans wrong and become a success in Norfolk, but I do have my doubts at the minute.

“I do doubt the ability that he’ll be able to play from the start consistently, I think that Aston Villa have made a mistake in not sending him to a team where he will be playing at least 60 to 70 minutes a week.”

Lewis Dobbin’s West Brom departure is not surprising

Aston Villa moving on Dobbin to somewhere else in the league should come as no surprise given his lack of game time at West Brom.

But a move to Norwich is an odd one, as it’s hard to see him playing much more for Thorup’s side than he was with Albion.

It’s difficult for players to be moved around on loan so much as it means they have so little time to settle down and hit the ground running.

It’s hard to imagine this year working out much for Dobbin if this switch doesn’t lead to increased game time, which ultimately hurts his development as a player.