Sargent made himself unavailable for Norwich cup win – Clement

Norwich boss Philippe Clement has said Josh Sargent will not be leaving the Championship club in January, after claiming the striker made himself unavailable to play in Sunday’s FA Cup third-round win against League Two side Walsall.

United States international Sargent, 25, had started the previous three Championship games for Norwich but was absent from the squad that won 5-1 against the Saddlers at Carrow Road.

Sargent was the subject of interest from clubs during the summer and MLS side Toronto FC have been linked with a move in this window.

Clement said: “Josh sent me a message [on Saturday] evening saying he would not be available because of transfer things in his head.

“This is obviously not something we want, and will have consequences.

In a separate interview with BBC Radio Norfolk, Clement added: “Josh sent me a text yesterday [Saturday] evening, because he was normally in the selection, that he was not available for this game.

“But I don’t want to make too much attention around that because the guys who were here, they deserve the praise for the performance they did, what they are doing during training sessions and in the games they play, so I want to focus on that.”

Sargent joined Norwich in August 2021 from German side Werder Bremen and has scored 56 goals for the Canaries in 157 games.

Without him, Norwich were convincing winners against the Saddlers, with Jovon Makama scoring a hat-trick to help the Canaries into round four.

The 21-year-old has overtaken Sargent as Norwich’s top scorer with 12 goals against the American’s eight.

“Jovon is improving a lot,” said Clement. “The staff is working a lot with him, like with the other players, with all the details of how to become better.

“He’s already scored more goals [this season] than he scored last season in the lower league [with Lincoln] and that’s positive.