Lewis Dobbin, a winger whose loan at West Bromwich Albion was cut short, is expected to join Norwich City on loan for the rest of the 2024–25 Championship season from Aston Villa.
This is in line with a recent report from The Athletic, which claims that after a difficult half-season with the Baggies, Dobbin is ready to finalise a loan move to Carrow Road.
Norwich might yet make a late push for play-off contention if they get it right in January, but head coach Johannes Hoff Thorup will be eager to bolster his team this month after a shaky start to life in Norfolk.
Dobbin is nearing a loan arrival at the club, and the Canaries are on the approach of making the first of what fans will hope will be several acquisitions after a hectic summer.
Lewis Dobbin of Aston Villa will join Norwich City when West Brom is recalled.
In the summer, the 21-year-old attacker left Everton for Villa in a £10 million move.
Dobbin immediately went on loan to West Brom, but he struggled to get playing time, playing only 325 minutes in 17 games until the Premier League team called him back.
A recall always seemed likely going into January because Dobbin only made one start for the Baggies and did not provide any goals or assists in his short playing time.
Prior to joint-caretaker manager Chris Brunt confirming that the two clubs had reached an agreement to end the loan, he was left out of Albion’s matchday squad for their 3-1 victory over Preston North End on New Year’s Day at home.
“Villa has requested that we give him a call back,” Brunt said on BBC Radio WM. “For a loan player leaving a Premier League team, he hasn’t played as much as they would have liked. We’ll simply have to accept it and go on.
Villa will now hope that Dobbin will have more opportunities at Norwich in the future. It’s unclear if the former Derby County loan player will be able to play in Saturday’s home match against Coventry City, but according to BBC Sport, Dobbin has already visited Norwich’s Colney training facility and a contract might be finalised within the next day.
Lewis Dobbin of Aston Villa will not be joining Norwich City in place of Kaide Gordon of Liverpool.
Kaide Gordon, a Liverpool loanee who has battled for both form and frequent play this season, would seem to be an obvious replacement for Dobbin, but indications indicate that his presence won’t have any impact on that front.
Gordon has only made one start for Norwich this season and has one goal in nine games. But according to a report by reporter Samuel Seaman, Gordon’s loan from Liverpool won’t be impacted by Dobbin’s signing.
According to reports, Dobbin is instead being considered as a replacement for Christian Fassnacht, who just left Norwich to rejoin Young Boys of Switzerland.
Although Norwich may still want more wide alternatives, Dobbin’s signing seems like a promising beginning, and they will be hoping he can have a greater influence than Gordon has.
