"Very difficult to find" - Norwich City: Josh Sargent & Marcelino Nunez transfer fears expressed ahead of January | OneFootball

The pair have been outstanding so far in the 24/25 campaign, with transfer interest likely to grow as January approaches

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 are once again proving themselves to be play-off contenders in the 2024/25 campaign, with Johannes Hoff Thorup starting to get the best out of his Canaries side.

After tasting defeat on the opening day of the season against Oxford United, the Norfolk outfit have managed to turn things around of late, and find themselves firmly among the leading pack as the Championship table starts to take shape.

Having lost out in the end-of-season lottery last season, City will be looking to go one better by the time next May comes about, although the January transfer window will have a major impact on their fortunes come the end of the season.

With a number of top performers catching the eye at Carrow Road of late, we spoke to Football League World’s Norwich fan pundit Zeke Downes about which stars he fears losing the most once 2025 begins.

Josh Sargent loss would derail Norwich City promotion charge

Having signed Josh Sargent from Werder Bremen for a reported £8 million fee back in 2021, it took City fans a while to see the best of their striker, who now finds the net on a regular basis in the second tier.

Just two goals in his first season for the club in the Premier League hardy instilled any confidence in his initial 12 months at the club, but 29 goals over the next two Championship campaigns has proven what a clinical marksman he is at the level.

16 goals from 26 appearances in an injury-hit 2023/24 season underlined his importance to this Canaries side, while a further eight goal contributions from the first ten games of 2024/25 continues to prove his all-round impact on his side’s results.

As a result, Downes is fearful of what January could bring in terms of interest surrounding the American international, with The Athletic reporting that AFC Bournemouth said to have joined MLS duo St Louis City and FC Cincinnati in having an interest in the striker over the summer.

When asked about his fears for January, Downes told Football League World: “I still think that the one player that we can’t afford to lose is Josh Sargent, because of the fact that strikers of his level are very difficult to find, especially on the cheap.

“We now look back at the fee we signed him for as being cheap, because back then it seemed like a lot of money - way too much money for him - but he is worth double, maybe triple that now.

“I think with most of the other players, we could probably end up replacing them because it is a bit easier to.”

Marcelino Nunez impact could be hard to replace for Norwich City

Downes also pinpointed Marcelino Nunez as a player that City would find hard to replace in January, should there be sufficient interest in his services.

The Chilean [pictured] has proved to be as influential as ever during the start of the current campaign, only for an injury against Stoke City set to rule him out until November, as indicated by Thorup via the Norwich Evening News.

The 24-year-old was reportedly another player City had to fend off interest for over the summer, with Turkish side Trabzonspor said to have been interested in acquiring him, only for the East Anglia outfit to rebuff any advances.

And with a little over two months before transfer speculation will be rife once again, Downes is adamant that his side need to keep hold of their midfielder at all costs, if they are to keep up their promotion challenge.

Zeke added on the midfield maestro: “I personally would say Marcelino Nunez as well - even now he is injured - because I don’t know who is going to come in and replace him because no one really does what he does.

“He is all over the pitch, he is creating the most chances in the team, but he is also defensively very good as well, despite being small, so I don’t know how he does it.

“But it is definitely him and Sargent who are the ones that I would worry about losing.”