Online Reporter
ENGLISH Championship club Norwich City are becoming a hub for the development of footballers who have ties to this country.
The Canaries signed Blackpool’s teenage defensive prospect Takudzwa Gwanzura for an undisclosed fee.
The 16-year-old will link up with the academy sides after 12 months with the Seasiders, who he joined from Premier League side Everton. Gwanzura made one senior appearance for the Tangerines in the EFL Trophy earlier this season, and has been a regular in their Under-18s set-up.
The 6ft 3in centre back has also been selected for Zimbabwe’s under-20s, and is the latest addition to the Canaries’ youth roster following the recent signing of Scottish midfielder Alan Domeracki. Following the former Dundee United player’s arrival City head coach Johannes Hoff Thorup outlined his input around signing of young players.
“I don’t play an active role because that’s their job (in the academy), to find them,” he said. “But we have meetings every month with Joe (Shulberg, academy manager), with Dean (Rastrick, head of football development), with Ben (Knapper) and Neil (Adams) and myself, and Glen (Riddersholm) is also a part of that, where we sit down and we just discuss the academy.
“We discuss the pathway for the players, and they mention who they are bringing to the table if they’re about to sign players. We knew about him, and we that we will sign him. We’ve been presented what he’s good at, what type of player he is, and what we can expect, and also what his pathway is here in the club. That ensures we are aligned.
“We should not bring any players in, especially in that age where we don’t know about it, with a view to the first team, because we have to look at them. It was a little bit the same with Lucien (Mahovo, another Zimbabwean prospect) last summer.
“We were aware of a new player coming in. We got presented what he could do as a player and his pathway and so on. And we are part of it. Not the active part in that, in that sense, in terms of bringing the player or in terms of recruiting and scouting.”
Teenage left back Mahovo has made his first team breakthrough in recent weeks, after his move from Notts County last summer, and started again in Saturday’s 1-1 Championship draw against Derby County. — Sports Reporter.
