Norwich City are interested in the signing of Joe Worrall this summer, according to reports...
What's the word?
That's the word from The Sun on Sunday (via Football League World) this weekend, who claim that the Nottingham Forest centre-back is on Daniel Farke's shortlist of targets ahead of the summer transfer window.
The £3.6 million-rated defender has also been reported to be attracting the interest of Premier League side Burnley, while both Celtic and Bournemouth were said to be keeping tabs on the 24-year-old at the beginning of the season - when Forest were demanding a fee of around £12 million to part with the former England U21 international.
As such, with there being no indication of this asking price changing, it would appear as if the Canaries should be prepared to part with a figure in this region if they wish to land the £10,000-per-week defender this summer.
Instant upgrade
With City's on-loan centre-back, Ben Gibson, suffering a season-ending ankle injury back in March, the centre of the Canaries' defence has been somewhat exposed for its lack of depth in recent weeks, with Farke opting to field 18-year-old Andrew Omobamidele to fill in for the injured Gibson.
The German manager does also have the option of Christoph Zimmermann in the position, however, with the 28-year-old making an average of just 0.5 tackles, 0.5 interceptions and 2.4 blocks per game over his 22 Championship appearances this term, culminating in a disappointing average WhoScored match rating of just 6.42, it would rightly seem as if Zimmermann is not particularly fancied by Farke in the heart of his defence.
And, following Norwich's promotion to the Premier League after an impressive second-tier campaign, centre-back would appear to be a position in which City must invest if they wish to stand any chance of remaining a top-flight club going forwards.
This is where Worrall comes in, as, despite Forest's poor season in the Championship, the 24-year-old has highly impressed over his 29 appearances for Chris Hughton's side, making an average of 0.7 tackles, 1.1 interceptions and 4.3 clearances per fixture, all of which contributes towards his average SofaScore match rating of 6.95 - ranking him as the club's fifth-best performer in the second tier.
As such, when comparing the statistics of both Zimmermann and Worrall, it would very much appear as if the Forest player would add a great deal more to the City backline than the German defender currently does.
Furthermore, the 24-year-old's contributions would also likely be improved by him playing in a considerably better side than his current Forest team, something that was evident when the defender spent some time on loan at Rangers back in 2018/19, with Worrall averaging a SofaScore match rating of 7.20 over his four Europa League appearances for Steven Gerrard's side, and the Gers' manager dubbing the defender as "outstanding".
So, it would be a very smart move by Stuart Webber in landing the signing of Worrall this summer, as the defender would represent a significant improvement on a number of options in the middle of the Norwich City defence - especially for the reported £12 million price.