Josh Sargent will once again not play a part for Norwich City this week.
Sargent has been left out of Philippe Clement’s squad for Tuesday’s EFL Championship showdown with West Bromwich Albion, the manager confirmed Monday in his prematch press conference. The American striker recently was demoted to the Canaries’ Under-21 squad last week and did not travel with the squad for Saturday’s eventual 2-1 league win over Wrexham.
Toronto FC reportedly made an $18 million bid for Sargent’s services, which led to the Missouri native contacting Clement asking to be left out of Norwich’s FA Cup match with Walsall on January 10. Sargent did not feature in the 5-1 victory at Carrow Road and Clement later told reporters that the striker would be disciplined for his actions.
Sargent will now miss his third-consecutive match as punishment by Clement and could very well remain exiled from the first team unless Norwich City does try and sell him by January’s end.
“If there is a change [with Josh], I will tell you guys directly. I don’t want to do the same question and answer every three days,” Clement told reporters Monday about Sargent’s availability. “If there is a change, I will be first to tell everyone.”
Norwich City heads to the Hawthorns seeking its first three-match winning streak this season in all competitions. The Canaries remain in the bottom-three of the league table, but could finish the week outside of the relegation zone with a win Tuesday and results going their way elsewhere.
Johnnyrazor,
As of now, if an MLS team offers $25M USD, Norwich will probably allow him to leave. Otherwise it’s looking like the summer, and probably no sooner than the end of February. I’ll circle back on the February timeline.
In the interim, three factors decide what Norwich will do…and they are listed in order of importance…
Relegation – Norwich believe they are staying up…if that changes, then they will consider a sale at a discounted fee.
Maximize the sale amount – Norwich have made it clear what the price tag for Sargent. Unless they are facing relegation, there is no reason for them to sell at a discount.
Message to the market, it’s fan base, and its current future players – they need to save face here and not let people think that players can do this at their club.
Currently, Sargent is not a distraction…Norwich is winning and Sargent has been banished to train with the kiddies, so he is not a cancer in the locker room.
Agreed, recent results and a 12-2 aggregate may increase Norwich’s consideration to cut bait, but not at a discounted price. See the three factors mentioned above.
Additionally, and with respect to the recent run of form and results, multiple signs indicate that Norwich does not need to enter the market and secure a replacement for Sargent…further tipping leverage Norwich’s way.a
Agreed, both parties have to agree on the destination club, but only Norwich decides the transfer fee they will accept, when they decide to accept, and from who.
In my last post, I forget that a potential transfer of Sargent to MLS does not need to occur by February 2nd. The MLS primary / winter transfer window closes around the third Wednesday of April. From a time stand point, Norwich are not under a time crunch, which is another wrinkle that works in their favor.
Relative to staving off relegation, Norwich has important games coming up in February…Blackburn, Oxford United, Sheffield Wednesday, Leicester, Southampton, and Sheffield United. By February 25th, they will have a much clearer picture if they are staying up. At that time, if things are not looking good, they may be open to selling Sargent for an amount less than their perceived valuation of him.
Lastly, it is important to note, St. Louis City is in discussions to move Klauss, so maybe they jump into the discussions on Sargent. If so, that would potentially move the needle closer to $25M and accelerate a transfer. Due note, STL owns Sargent’s MLS rights.
I had forgotten about the MLS window being longer, that is a good point.
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Reportedly, there was a meeting with Sargent, the manager and sporting director and it went very poorly. Sargent’s team has made it clear he will not suit for Norwich again. I understand, he’s not a cancer and all that, but the manager and players are being asked about it constantly, that’s a distraction. It sounds like the relationship is not repairable, so is a manager who doesn’t trust a player going to put him on the field? So now you’re paying him tons of money to train with your youth team? From Sargent’s side it sounds like assurances were made that they were going to move him as a thank you for his service and standing with the club despite relegation. TFC and NCFC had been in negotiations for over a month. Josh was led to believe it would be done so he could join TFC for training camp, but in Josh’s opinion Norwich is dragging it out. That’s where the decision to not play the cup match came from. I wouldn’t do that but I understand where it comes from.
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I had wondered about St Louis making roster space, but it sounds like Josh is set on Toronto. Perhaps STL are just late to the party and are going to try to swoop in. They’ve never thrown around the kind of money being talked about though.
Johnnyrazor,
With respect to St. Louis City…
…agreed, historically, they have not flashed the cash, but for them, Sargent may be the exception…he is a local boy made good, USMNT pool player, albeit with a long shot to make this upcoming World Cup roster, 25 years old, not looking to play in Europe anymore…that potentially translates to 7 years of service for STL, which may interest them.
With respect to Norwich…
…unfortunately, for Sargent, the meeting, no matter how bad it went, doesn’t change anything…everything is still the same.
True, this matter with Josh is not ideal, but it’s common in professional soccer and just as importantly, the attention it is currently receiving has tapered off because Norwich is winning and Josh is off training with the kiddies, so it can be more appropriately labeled as an inconvenience.
Norwich is willing to incur that inconvenience because they are not paying him tons of money. They owe him $758 thousand dollars through the end of this season, plus any bonuses, but since he is not with the first team and will not play for them anymore, he is unlikely to receive any bonuses. Norwich is making a calculated business decision…they are willing to pay his salary for the rest of the season so as not to leave $7M dollars on the table by selling him to Toronto for $18M dollars, and doing so just to appease Sargent. That’s good business and a smart calculated decision.
Norwich’s calculated business decision is well supported by the fact that there is a broader market for Sargent and at a valuation of $25M. The reason that business cannot be consummated is because Sargent only wants to go back to North America, so Sargent is the biggest inhibitor here. Norwich selling Josh for $18M dollars would be bad business.
What Josh and Wasserman are calling Norwich “dragging this out,” is nothing more than Norwich not being willing to leave $7M dollars on the table.
Two things are true and factual…Norwich told Josh they didn’t want to sell him…and they also told him they would sell him. They NEVER communicated or agreed to sell him for an amount less than their valuation of him.
this is a poorly considered distraction that’s not helping him make a world cup. you don’t move and take risks right before a world cup. as it stands, if his agent’s tactics “work,” he’d have last seen a field in a regular season game on 1/4 and then go over to preseason for TFC for a month. he would then have, my count, 4 league games in march to make an altered impression on poch. and i can’t see how even scoring for TFC sells him any better than norwich.
i don’t think whether norwich gets relegated changes how he’s thought of before the world cup. they aren’t currently dropping and even if they did, that practicality would happen after the world cup. and that summer eager suitors could be exercising his clause and getting him out of there. he never plays in league 1. and what happens doesn’t reflect on him if he keeps scoring.
no, this is the first time he’s come across to me as a money grubbing type pro. it’s not saint louis. which says it’s money. and it’s these holdout tactics. which from what i get, are about extracting a higher fee before the relegation clause kicks in. sargent of course getting a percentage of any fee, and perhaps concerned his fee drops if they get relegated. anyhow, it’s not a good look professionally, and feels like a “push” in terms of does it help him NT make the world cup.
i mean, to me, his issue world cup is his lack of productivity for years despite golden boy status and club numbers. you can’t fix that moving. club numbers were never his issue.
his issues are how many strikers do we take, is he slipping behind balogun, wright, pepi, and agyemang for them. at the moment, regardless of this move, i think he’d dropped down to contingency status. something had to happen to someone to make him viable again.
there is basically one window left to make any positive impression. and you have to make that team to make the impression. i don’t see how 2 months of no games helps that. and then after that, world cup camp and pre-tournament friendlies. under recent regimes, the roster will be precisely the same as the tournament team. no cut. at best you’re on call as the fallback option.
don’t get it other than a cash grab or the significant other insisted.
for comparison, weston, weah, and even the eroding playing time gio reyna will not be moving one inch. you don’t risk the wrong move and getting totally benched. they will rest on their NT laurels and prior club stats, such as they are.
for comparison, downs did make a move, but downs has few NT minutes and needs a miracle to jump the queue and make the team. that’s the sort of player who says eff it and moves the last window before a world cup.
i mean, i thought after a few years of mindlessness (berhalter’s tenures??) they’d finally figured out the value of the old school approach to factoring in the NT in transfers. you move early in the cycle and take your risks. late in the cycle you find someplace you will see the field — and then you don’t move an inch.
IV: I think Sargent has either seen the writing on the wall and/or been told after Panama and South Korea, he’s not in the plans. His skillset just doesn’t match what Poch wants. He basically did nothing in his last two matches for the US. Under Berhalter at least he did other things, but under Poch just seemed lost and stationary. If you remember I said in August he could just stay and he’ll outplay the other US strikers in Championship and be 3rd striker by default. That changed when Pepi was unavailable and Balo had recently returned in September. Josh got his chance to shine and was invisible against South Korea.
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St. Louis didn’t go after Ream either so perhaps they aren’t interested in going outside their plan to bring a local boy home.
Toronto is what 2 hr flight from St. Louis maybe 3 and if TFC are paying enough for private flights that’s not a big deal. Much easier than getting from Norwich to the Midwest.
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Poch has said pre-WC camp in June will be the WC roster not tryouts.
JR: my point is the timing. if he’s hoping for a last chance, there is one friendly window. march. you have to make that team to be fighting for a roster slot “on your feet.” and he’d have a handful of MLS games to make any impression, which would have to be made by mid-march. otherwise you’re just on a numbered call sheet waiting to see if someone gets hurt. and he’s been bad enough NT maybe not even first choice of the waiting room.
yeah, maybe they told him he’s not in the plans, but recent USMNT history is someone begs off or gets hurt. the depth chart rarely plays to ideal.
IV: all the reporting is it’s personal. The family is not happy living in England.
PG: I forgot to add in my first post Toronto is likely to increase their bid to make it happen. Rarely does anyone put their best offer out there first. This behavior (both sides) is certainly not uncommon we just don’t see it a lot with USMNT players. I guess Lucho Acosta would be recent similar case in MLS. Eventually it gets done because the distraction outweighs the value of the player. Their performance against West Brom certainly will build their hopes of staying up, but their 12-2 aggregate since casting Sarge to the U21s might also encourage them to cut bait. I’m not sure Josh brings 28 million offers this summer either, after a hot start he had significantly cooled. Also they’ve got to find a higher offer in a place Josh is willing to go. Doesn’t matter if Al Nassr offers 79 million if Mrs. Josh doesn’t want to move to Saudi Arabia. I’ll give you it’s not certain but I think more 75/25 it gets done.
Should have went to Bundesliga, he did a Jordan Morris and Darlington Nagbe cant uproot or be split from my girlfriend, family, and dog. Please! Moving around is part of football life, stop choosing professional athletes or the military, if you dont want to uproot or be split up from your family!
Why? Why should he do something that he doesn’t want to do? Life changes. People change. How many of us have had what we want most change as we grow older. It’s called maturation. He has worked hard enough to get to a place where he has a chance to cash in and be set for life! Power to him in my opinion, which I know is worth very little
Rumor is he has a clause that if they get relegated he will be allowed to leave for a price well below the 18 million. So my gut says this gets done before the end of the window. Toronto doesn’t want to be half way through the season when he would arrive if they wait until summer and Norwich doesn’t want to lose out on significant money and they can’t love the distraction. A sale soon would allow them time to use that money to purchase a new player or two this window as well.
Been sort of my take, too. And almost all the top guys have a clause that says: “I ain’t goin’ down with the ship.” And they can get those clauses because they’re the top guys. Even if it does happen he doesn’t, though, if they get relegated they have to start cutting salary and you do that from the top down and try to keep the middle core. You sell your assets and rebuild.
So my feeling is they’re just posturing for optics and it’s about a number. It usually is. And Toronto is known to have deep pockets.
Quozzel,
Liar. See date and time stamp below for your exact words.
quozzel
January 14, 2026 at 3:14 pm
“Which means if they get relegated, they could get nothing for him.”
You said that is Norwich got relegated, Sargent would get to leave on a free.
Wrong…you don’t know shit, but you claim to, when all you really know is diarrhea of the mouth.
Stick to ODP and developing players for college. Professional soccer is three-dimensional chess…you and your ODP efforts aren’t even playing checkers…you’re playing marbles, kid.
Papi-
You might as well stop talking, I’m tuning you out.
I never did get people who go onto message boards and then are just so abrasive they make other people not want to talk to them.
I simply do not care what you think. You don’t know me, I don’t know you. All I know is you’re pointlessly rude and abrasive…so why would I waste my time engaging further?
Johnnyrazor,
Maybe…as of right now, it is 50 / 50 that he leaves this window.
As mentioned, Norwich was not going to let Sargent and his team dictate the terms, as it sends the wrong message.
It was unknown if Norwich could weather the financial storm of sidelining him, but as of now, they seem to be willing, and able, to do so.
Norwich values him at $25 – $28M dollars, so at this moment, they are not letting him go for $18M dollars, especially given how Sargent and his team have handled this.
This comes down to whether or not Norwich thinks they are getting relegated.
If they believe they have a chance to stay up, they are more likely to hold on to him and look to sell him this summer for the dollar amount they place on him. If they believe they are going down, they are more likely to sell him in this window.
Since Clement has come on, they are 6-4-3 ( W – L – T ), with 21 points in all competitions. In the 13 games prior to Clement’s arrival, they were 2 – 9 – 2, with 7 points in all competitions. Norwich feels things are trending in the right direction and they have a chance to stay up.
Norwich has three games remaining before the close of this transfer window. Norwich’s game today vs West Brom has a major impact on Sargent’s situation, as the other two games are vs Coventry and Middlesborough.
Pending the result vs West Brom, this whole situation will have more clarity later today at 5 pm ET.
JR,
Such a pissing contest.
There is another way to look at this.
SBI fans generally look down their noses at Josh probably because he looks like a non-factor for the World Cup.
But Norwich have a slightly different perspective.
In the 2024-25 season and going into 2025-26 seasons, Norwich City’s win rate has been significantly higher in games where Josh Sargent has played.
WITH Josh
Norwich has a considerably better record in matches where Josh plays.
In the 2024-25 season, they won 15 out of 32 league games he appeared in.
This season (2025-26), they have won 7 out of 23 games with him in the line-up, a higher win rate compared to games he missed.
W/O Josh
Norwich’s form has suffered. His disciplinary absence has coincided with mixed results, including a 5-1 FA Cup victory against lower-league opposition and a subsequent league loss to Wrexham. In the 2024-25 season, the team struggled in the games he missed, such as the period when he was injured.
Data indicates that his presence directly correlates with more positive outcomes for Norwich.
SUCCESSORS
He has been their top goalscorer in recent seasons, scoring 56 goals in 157 appearances for the club.
As for in-house successors, the club has Jovon Makama, who recently scored a hat-trick in the FA Cup win that Sargent missed. Makama is a promising prospect and is currently filling in for Josh. They also recently signed Canadian international Ali Ahmed.
These guys have potential but that’s a long way from what Josh has given them and should be able to continue to give them. They are in a relegation battle so , gruntled or not, they will fight to keep Josh around .
The facts show that he is important and if I’m Norwich, unless they can buy Patrick or Haji, I’d rather gamble on a little dustup and trying to smooth things over rather than the uncertainty of finding another goal scorer as reliable as Josh.
As of today, January 20, 2026, Norwich City has 18 league games remaining in the 2025–26 EFL Championship season.
• They are 20th out of 24 teams.
• They have approximately 30 points from 28 games played
• They are roughly 2 points clear of the bottom three. (22nd–24th)
I’m guessing Norwich are going to try and convince Josh to stay around and help them stay up because that is far, far, more valuable than whatever fee they are likely to get for him from anyone. Josh may suck for most of SBI but the record shows he has been and still can be pretty important to Norwich, especially now.
V: I don’t disagree with what you say from what we know publicly. However, Norwich has information we don’t have. They know the reasons why the Sargent family want to get back to North America. Maybe it’s financial, maybe it’s family medical, maybe they don’t like mushy peas. We don’t know. They likely know if there is a way that Josh agrees to stay and is happy enough to produce as he did in the past. I’m sticking with my 75/25 it gets done as long as Toronto is willing to come up a little. Norwich just got Ali Ahmed for 2 mil + add ons and he’s been great. They could get 2 or 3 more productive players from MLS and still be in the green from 20 million for Josh. Use Josh to rebuild now.
JR,
I agree that only Norwich and Josh know what the chances are that they can work it out enough so that Josh will stay to help them stay up.
They are the only ones who know where the real line in the sand is
I’m sure Ali Amed is great and it’s natural to want to move on but Ali is promising while Josh is proven.
There is a huge difference.
SBI posters don’t seem to appreciate how horrible relegation is.
Norwich are duty bound to go through the “anything to avoid relegation” dance. Even if it means continuing to deal with the pain in the ass that a wantaway Josh has become.
It appears that Josh understands he’s got almost zero chance of making the WC. It’s not 100% but it is close.
So if the Toronto money is not an illusion why not go for it?