Football
Exclusive: Josh Sargent Back on Burnley’s Radar After Championship Scoring Spree
Burnley set to renew interest in Norwich City's Josh Sargent after missing out on a deal before. Despite an impressive start to the season, Sargent's future with Norwich remains uncertain due to interest from various clubs including Burnley, Wolfsburg, AS Roma, and Leeds United. Sargent has expressed his focus on helping Norwich but his desire to return to the Premier League is evident.
Norwich City FC v Derby County FC - Sky Bet Championship by Stephen Pond | Getty Images
Burnley will renew their interest in Norwich City striker Josh Sargent providing the price is right, SportsBoom can exclusively reveal.
The Clarets were keen to sign USA international hitman Sargent before the transfer window shut, but his rumoured £20million price-tag put them off.
The Lancashire outfit, back in the Premier League after a memorable promotion last season, were shocked at the Canaries’ valuation of the player, believing a fee in the region of £15m was more appropriate.
And, after lengthy negotiations, the Clarets decided to pull out of the deal and ended their pursuit of the experienced 25-year-old marksman.
Sargent has started the season on fire for the Norfolk-based outfit in the Championship this season, scoring an impressive six goals in just six games.
But our sources have learnt that the Canaries would still considering selling their top-scorer despite his sizzling start.
German Bundesliga side Wolfsburg also expressed an interest in securing the striker’s signature, but in the end he stayed at Carrow Road after they had two bids rejected.
Interest was also rumoured to have come from Italian side AS Roma and Leeds United, although neither club are understood to have made an official bid for the player.
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On Friday last week Sargent scooped the Championship Player of the Month award and was praised for his excellent goalscoring exploits by Canaries’ boss Liam Manning.
"I'm really happy and proud to receive this award," said Sargent.
"For sure, there has been a lot of noise during the recent months, but I've been fully focussed on doing everything I can to help the team here."
"I'd like to thank everyone at the club, but especially my team-mates, for their support. We're excited for the season ahead and we must now continue to build on some of our recent performances.”
Norwich Sporting Director Ben Knapper has been open about the growing demand to sign Sargent and revealed earlier this year that “Josh is always going to command big interest”, but stressed “but it has to work for us."
Sargent, capped 29 times by his country, has scored 54 goals in138 games for Norwich signing for them in 2021.
However, he has played in the Championship for the past four seasons, including this season, and craves a return to the Premier League.
He played 26 games in the top-flight for the Canares in his debut season which ultimately led to relegation back to the second tier.
Neil has been a journalist for longer than he'd care to remember, having written for national newspapers and respected publications for over 25 years. For the last three years he has worked freelance for BBC Sport, working on the production desk as a sub-editor and also as a writer, covering a whole range of sports.