Norwich City manager Liam Manning said he is hoping not to receive any bids for Josh Sargent before the close of the transfer window after the United States striker scored for a third straight game to start the new season.
Sargent netted his second goal in two Championship games, having also scored in the Carabao Cup in midweek, to give Norwich a 2-1 win at Portsmouth on Saturday.
Sargent, who captained the side, remains linked with a move away from the club, though Manning is hopeful that he will still be at Carrow Road at the beginning of September.
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“I’m hoping Ben [Knapper, director of football] turns his phone off so we don’t get any calls,” Manning joked.
“Sarge role models everything you want. He’s a top person, a top professional. You see his work rate and how he leads by example. He’s top class.”
The 25-year-old, who joined Norwich from Werder Bremen in 2021, was close to a transfer to Wolfsburg in a deal worth in excess of €21 million ($24.4m) earlier this summer but reportedly turned down the move.
Sargent scored 15 goals in England’s second tier last season and following his strike in Tuesday’s Carabao Cup win over Watford, Manning described him as the “best Championship striker.”
The Missouri native has also won 28 caps for the U.S. men’s national team and is firmly in contention for a place in Mauricio Pochettino’s squad for next summer’s World Cup on home soil. However, he has struggled to translate his club form to international soccer, and has gone more than five years without a goal for the USMNT.
Information from PA was used in this report.