Norwich midfielder, Ben Godfrey is the subject of interest from Swansea City, West Bromwich Albion as well as Premier League Crystal Palace, reports BBC Sport Wales.
Godfrey joined Norwich from York City as a raw 18-year-old but now aged 20, he has become a very well thought of defensive midfielder.
Last season, he was sent out on loan to League One Shrewsbury Town where he earned rave reviews.
The Shrews drew West Ham in the FA Cup third round in January and Godfrey was given the man of the match award in the first game, which ended in a 0-0 draw. I watched that game and he was terrific, not looking out of place against his Premier League opponents.
This report from BBC Sport suggests that the three clubs mentioned above are weighing up bids of around £3m for Ben, who is versatile enough to play in defence as well.
If such a bid or bids are forthcoming, it will be a real test of the resolve of the Norwich board. I would assume that Godfrey is being lined up to play a big part in the future of Norwich City and is, to my mind, the natural successor to Alex Tettey in our squad.
Norwich have already sold Josh Murphy (£11m) and Marley Watkins (£1.3m) and it seems inevitable that James Maddison will be sold in the near future for £20-25m. I would question whether selling such a player is a good idea.
Godfrey is clearly well thought of by Daniel Farke and last summer in pre-season, only Christoph Zimmermann had more minutes on the pitch under his belt by the start of the season. He went out on loan because he wasn’t going to play week in, week out and it was felt that such a loan would benefit him more than the occasional stand-in for Tettey or the odd cup game.
I don’t think that Norwich can afford, and I’m not talking in monetary terms, to sell such a promising player and I can only hope that the board are looking longer term than just this summer.
Fingers crossed.
OTBC