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.
Quozzel,
You developed players that went on to play Division 1 soccer?…that’s amazing!…you’re amazing!…NOT.
Keep telling yourself how cool you are, but that’s not shit. What a clown you are.
As an ODP coach, you are part of the pay to play machine, which means you are not helping the cause, you are the biggest detriment to the development of players in this country.
And since you feel compelled to regale us with stories of your ODP accomplishments, are you sure you are posting under the proper handle?…shouldn’t your handle be The Imperative Voice?
As for me, I’m a lot of things, but a couch expert is not one of them.
Refusing to play with a struggling team, fighting for its survival vs relegation isn’t a good look. Regardless of personal gripes with management, appearances are of a guy jumping ship when things are bleak.
This guy is a second stringer in a relegation-bound English second division team and he decided to quit on his team in order to force a move to……MLS?
The stupidity.
If I was Toronto I would just wait. Once Norwich is relegated they will have to sell players and for less. There negotiating power becomes basically nothing.
Except then they don’t get him until July and perhaps another lost season without the playoffs.
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.
Why do you keep posting false information?
“They keep getting offers for him, deciding they aren’t quite enough, and then holding onto him”
That is categorically false. In the last window, there was a transfer in place for $25M USD and agreed upon between Wolfsburg and Norwich. Additionally, Sargent had agreed on personal terms, and at the last minute, he backed out for for family reasons.
“But it’s their way or the highway. Hoo-ah.”
As it should be, there is a contract in place that has two and a half years remaining on it. What?…it should be Josh’s way because now he wants to take his ball and go home?
I hope he is enjoying his time training with the kiddies…he deserves it. The only thing that would make his punishment better is if video surfaced of him having to clean the soccer shoes of the first team.
Norwich is clearly in the wrong, no matter what Sargent’s motivation is. If a player, or any employee, is unhappy then they should leave. Both for their own happiness, and because the team or business will be better for having them gone. Personally this sounds like sour grapes to me, Norwich is acting childish because their team isn’t doing well and their top player wants to leave. Never mind he is a big reason for the team’s past success. As a business owner, I want what’s best for my employees. If one of them has outgrown my business because they’ve been successful, and wants a new challenge, I suck it up and cheer them on. Hard on me losing them, but that’s part of being professional. Norwich should be trying to make as much as possible on Josh, then claiming credit if he does well at his next stop, and yes, thanking him for his service.
See Papi for Exhibit A on the attitude that got Norwich here.
As I said, it’s a curious decision to air your dirty laundry with something like this, and potentially a very expensive one. Sargent’s likely done with the club – the fans probably wouldn’t accept it and it is hard to play in front of a home crowd that hates you – and I’m not sure the locker room would either. And that dramatically lowers your negotiating position.
My guess would be it’s a hardball negotiating tactic and they don’t feel the Toronto offer is good enough, so they’ll just walk away and turf the player like it’s a viable option and relegation is no big worry for them. I’m not sure I would believe them if I was negotiating for one of their players, but hey, we all see the world our own way.
I’d still be surprised if a deal didn’t get before the transfer window closes.
See Quozzel for his coaching CV.
Given his ODP experience, I am sure that would serve Norwich well for all that ills them, and if he was in charge, he would already have them back in the Premier League.
What you would recommend first?…orange slices or Capri Sun?
Orange slices, definitely.
Capri Sun gives the little ‘uns a sugar high and then they’re picking daisies the rest of the game.
Some of us actually put in the work to develop players. My players have gone on to play at Clemson, Furman, and dozen other D1 and D2 schools.
Others are couch experts with abrasive personalities who sneer at the people who do. We all have our roles to play, I guess.
LMAO – “Norwich clearly in the wrong…”
When you are a professional under contract you show up and do your job. I love Sarge but this is amateur-hour behavior. As Papi pointed out, he already backed out of a deal he agreed to. Not hard to understand the club’s frustration.