Norwich City will head into the 2024-25 Championship season later this week without one of their stars, as Gabriel Sara has completed a much-expected transfer out of the Norfolk outfit.
Sara was Norwich’s standout performer last season after arriving in 2022 from Sao Paulo, but now City have lost their star man following his transfer to Turkish side Galatasaray.
Last season saw Sara score 13 goals and assist 12 as he started all 46 of Norwich’s Championship games, as well as their two play-off matches as they were put to the sword by Leeds United in the semi-finals.
The Canaries and their new head coach Johannes Hoff Thorup will be devastated to see such an important player leave, but fortunately for them, they received a sizeable fee.
Galatasaray revealed in their official announcement that a fee of €18 million (£15.4 million) would be paid for the player, although local City source the Pink’Un claim that the deal could rise to £23 million with significant add-ons included.
The season is just a few days away and Norwich are yet to find a replacement for Sara so soon after his exit, but from the player’s perspective, he could seemingly not turn down UEFA Champions League football in Istanbul.
Carlton Palmer issues verdict on Gabriel Sara’s Norwich City exit
A fee that could reach up to around £23 million is excellent for a club like Norwich as they enter a new era under Thorup, as they could now potentially strengthen in multiple areas, but it also would have been a difficult one to stomach at the same time.
And ex-England international midfielder and current pundit Carlton Palmer, was full of praise for the Canaries after securing such a good deal for their player, even if he was their star and they are currently weaker as a result.
Speaking exclusively to Football League World, Palmer said: “Norwich City signed Gabriel Sara for a £9.5 million fee from Sao Paulo, and this was only in 2022, and now Norwich have agreed a fee that could rise to £23 million for the player – they’ve only had the player for two seasons.
“It’s a fantastic bit of business; really good money for the player and obviously that will help them rebuild their squad.
“Obviously, they didn’t want to lose him, but when you get an offer of that amount of money to come in for the midfield player, it’s one of those where you’ve got to let the player go.”
“It’s an opportunity for the player to play at a high level, with Norwich not getting promotion through the play-offs last season. It’s a great bit of business and good money for Norwich to reinvest.”
Norwich City must put Gabriel Sara money to good use
It has been a very quiet summer transfer window for Norwich in terms of new signings, with just two new faces walking through the door.
The first of which was Panamanian defender, Jose Cordoba, who impressed in the Bulgarian top flight, before Ben Chrisene arrived for £1.5 million from Aston Villa.
The latter is a much-needed left-back after both Sam McCallum and Dimitris Giannoulis departed earlier in the summer window, but now the club must look to boost their midfield options after letting go of one of their standout players in Sara.
