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(Pinkun)

Norwich City’s top brass will back Philippe Clement to keep hold of wantaway striker Josh Sargent in the January transfer window.

The Belgian head coach revealed the US international had made himself unavailable for Sunday’s FA Cup third round win over Walsall, amid a transfer bid from Toronto FC.

Clement reiterated his stance from earlier in the window, after the cup win, that Sargent is too vital to the club’s Championship survival bid to cash out this month.

The Canadians’ reported £14m enquiry is a long way short of the £23m package City were negotiating with Wolfsburg in the summer, before Sargent pulled the plug on a potential Bundesliga return.

City have had no other interest in the forward in the current window, despite recent links to Premier League West Ham.

Sporting director Ben Knapper will back Clement in the stand-off, who is believed to want City to reject any bid for Sargent in the coming weeks.

Norwich are still in the market for a number 10 and central midfielder, after the addition of Ali Ahmed from Vancouver Whitecaps, but had no plans to add striker options this month.

Clement himself spoke about the difficulties of player trading in January on Saturday lunchtime, ahead of the Walsall tie.

Club talks are now expected to continue with Sargent and his camp in the coming days to resolve the impasse, after Clement indicated there would be ‘consequences’ to Sargent’s FA Cup snub.

City are believed to be considering disciplinary options that include leaving him out of first team training, and Clement’s plans for the upcoming Championship return at Wrexham.

US-based media claim Sargent wants the move to make a late push for the US World Cup squad, ahead of the tournament held in north America this coming summer.

Jovon Makama took his goal tally to 12 in 26 first team appearances this season with a hat-trick against the Saddlers on Sunday. Big-money summer 2025 signing Mathias Kvistgaarden also played his first 90 minutes under Clement.

But the Belgian still views Sargent as his proven Championship attacking spearhead, and crucial to the Canaries’ chances of staying up this season.

Sargent was scheduled to be in Clement’s FA Cup squad before his text bombshell on Saturday night. City officials held discussions internally prior to the tie how to respond publicly, prior to Clement’s post-match admission. News of Toronto FC’s firm transfer interest emerged shortly after the City boss had delivered the news.

Sargent is under contract at Carrow Road until 2028, having penned a longer term deal in October 2023.

Toronto FC recently signed Sargent’s US international team mate, Walker Zimmermann, after a dire 2025 MLS season that saw them finish 12th out of 15 teams in the Eastern Conference.

The Canadians begin their new league campaign in late February, and are due to step up their pre-season plans from next week with a three-week training camp in Marbella.

Posted By: DrDublin, Jan 12, 11:46:17