In early August, many sources confirmed that American Forward Josh Sargent was moving to the Premier League to join Norwich City. The 21-year-old striker left recently relegated Werder Bremen to join The Canaries in a deal worth around £8 million on a four-year contract. After an impressive start to his 2.Bundesliga campaign and a headline stealing Carabao Cup performance for Norwich, could the American take the Premier League by storm and stave off Norwich’s relegation fears?
Starting His Career With Werder Bremen
Josh Sargent had played his entire professional career with Werder Bremen before his move to Norwich City. The American joined Bremen after his youth career in America with both St. Louis Scott Gallagher and the IMG Academy. Like many, Sargent signed as a teenager and was immediately placed with Werder Bremen II. His performances caught the eye of the senior team as the versatile forward scored seven goals in 12 games in the Regionalliga Nord.
During that same 2018/19 season, he made 10 appearances for the senior team mainly being utilized as a substitute. In his 10 substitute cameos, Sargent still managed to find the net twice and would remain in the senior team for the foreseeable future.
The 2019/20 campaign marked Sargent’s first as a more consistent starter in a struggling Werder Bremen side. He managed four goals and four assists during 28 appearances and Bremen were confined to a Bundesliga Playoff. Sargent helped Bremen secure their Bundesliga status with a victory over Heidenheim.
Another difficult year followed and Bremen were relegated from the Bundesliga. His five goals placed him as the second-highest scorer for then Florian Kohfeldt’s side but it was not enough to keep them up and they were condemned to Bundesliga 2.
Sargent started the Bundesliga 2 campaign well with two goals in two games before he secured a move to Premier League Norwich.
When Norwich was last in the Premier League they finished last and were the lowest scorers in the division. Teemu Pukki couldn’t maintain his early-season form and goals were lacking from other areas. Therefore, during this summer transfer window, Daniel Farke has tried to add goals and creativity in the form of Josh Sargent.
Sargent hasn’t made a start for Norwich yet in the Premier League and the Canaries are yet to find the net upon their return to top-flight football. But the American frontman proved in a recent Carabao Cup tie that he can produce goals when he is needed. An impressive 6-0 victory over Championship side Bournemouth was capped by two goals from Sargent. His performance now makes him a possible starter for Norwich’s home tie against Leicester.
The youngster still has room for improvement and is not the finished article. But as a rotational forward for Teemu Pukki and his impressive start to the campaign, Sargent could be the difference for Norwich to survive this season.
