Josh Sargent is now being punished by Norwich City manager Philippe Clement after making him unavailable for last weekend’s FA Cup tie.
Sargent will not be in the Canaries’ squad for Saturday’s EFL Championship road showdown with Wrexham, Clement confirmed in his prematch press conference Friday. The American has also been reduced to training with the Under-21’s, Clement also confirmed.
“Josh has been training with the Under-21s, what he has done is not acceptable. We want to focus on the players available and get us out of the position we are in currently. There’s not much more to focus on now apart from Wrexham and getting results,” Clement said in a club press conference. “You can only control the controllable. That can also happen with injuries. It happened when he had a concussion and other people stepped up and we got results. It depends on him.
“I’ve said it already a few times; this club is in a relegation battle and everyone is focused on coming out of this situation,” he added. I don’t have any fear about distraction in the squad. They’re all working hard in attitude, in team spirit, to get results.”
Sargent was scheduled to be part of the Canaries’ eventual 5-1 win over Walsall last Sunday before reportedly informing Clement that he would be unavailable. The U.S. men’s national team forward was recently linked with a reported $18 million move to MLS club Toronto FC, but Clement later stated that the club would not let Sargent leave the club during the January Transfer Window.
Nottingham Forest has also reportedly expressed interest in Sargent’s services this winter as the club seeks to move itself away from the relegation scrap in the English Premier League.
The 25-year-old joined Norwich City back in August 2021 from German side Werder Bremen and has tallied 56 goals in 157 appearances for the Canaries. Sargent has been one of the top goalscorers in the EFL Championship over that time, but his inconsistent 2025-26 campaign has led to Jovon Makama jumping into a leading role for the Canaries.
Norwich City’s busy January schedule continues at Stok Cae Ras on Saturday before the Canaries take on West Bromwich Albion, Coventry City, and Middlesbrough after that.
Whether Sargent stays a Norwich City player remains to be seen, but certainly the club would love to have him get out of the relegation zone by season’s end.
I have never understood the “punishment” of making a professional player train with the U-21s when the player wants to leave. How does that help the pro team?
Doesn’t it drive down the value of the player for a transfer and doesn’t it drive the motivation of the plyer to leave?
Yeah, but see, they don’t negotiate with terrorists. What it’s really about.
Something’s clearly gone wrong in their front office. They keep getting offers for him, deciding they aren’t quite enough, and then holding onto him…this will be at least the third or fourth go-around on that ride and it appears he’s tired of it and wants out.
If they wind up relegated, they either have to sell him anyhow in their relegation fire sale because they’re out their parachute payments and have to slash wages, or he may even have a release cause in his contract like most of the top players do allowing him to transfer upon relegation. In which case they could get nothing.
We can argue whether Sargent was right or wrong on this – and I genuinely do not know the situation because Sargent himself has been publicly quiet without so much as a Tweet – but Norwich certainly appears to have made a very curious and expensive decision while sitting in the relegation zone.
But it’s their way or the highway. Hoo-ah.