Exclusive: Sky Sports pundit reacts to Chris Sutton’s Josh Sargent, Norwich City exit claim
Lee Hendrie has agreed with Chris Sutton’s stance that Josh Sargent will leave Norwich City this summer after another disappointing campaign for the club.
He said in his column for The Pink Un: “Josh Sargent is the best striker in the Championship – now it’s time for him to try and challenge himself at a higher level than Norwich City.
“That won’t be a popular statement amongst the fanbase, and there will undoubtedly and understandably be a desire to keep hold of Sargent, but he has outgrown them, and it’s time for him to take the next step in his career…
“There will certainly be clubs in the Premier League and on the continent who will have a really keen interest in him.
In terms of purely the Premier League, I think he’d have to go to a mid-table club, do well there to make that stepping stone, and then see whether he can eventually cut it at the very highest level. That should be his ambition.”
Sargent has been linked with a return to the Premier League in the past, with Everton and Nottingham being more recently reported as potential summer destinations for the striker to land at, as per On The Minute.
Lee Hendrie reveals stance on Norwich City selling Josh Sargent this summer
“Chris Sutton has talked about Josh Sargent. He expects a sale this summer, and I think that there will be because I don’t think that Norwich have been anywhere near where they can be over the seasons that they’ve been in the Championship,” Hendrie said.
“I think they’ve lost lots of players and usually their model of recruiting players and bringing them in to sell on, which it looks like is going to happen this season. The worrying factor is that Sainz will go – there’s no doubt about that I feel – and Sargent too.
“Obviously he can score goals and be prolific, so I think that will definitely happen in the summer. I think that he will leave the football club, which will be a big loss for Norwich.
“I think they’ve downed tools by selling players of Sargent and Sainz’s calibre. How do you replace them players in the Championship if you want to get back into the Premier League?”
