Todd Cantwell and Billy Gilmour have the opportunity for a fresh start that Norwich City sporting director Stuart Webber hopes both will embrace.
Star academy product Cantwell and Chelsea loanee Gilmour fell out of favour during the latter stages of Daniel Farke’s reign, with Cantwell close to entering the final six months of his contract – although with the Canaries holding the option for a further year.
As new head coach Dean Smith prepares for his first City match, at home to Southampton on Saturday, Webber has spoken about the talented duo’s situation.
“It’s not my job to be talking to them about how they do or don’t think their season is going. They know where I am if they want to have a chat,” he said.
“In terms of Todd’s contract, it’s very simple, he’s got this year and we’ve got the option in our favour beyond that, so we don’t see it as a contract situation.
“For Todd, what is really important for him is to get himself fit, keep himself fit, that’s what he’s done in fairness in the last few weeks.
“He’s got himself fit, he’s trained through the whole of the international break, he’s been brilliant, and now he’s got to impress Dean and Shakey (assistant head coach, Craig Shakespeare) and show that he can help the team.
“He’s got to break it down to that, no worrying about contracts or what’s next – and it’s the same for Billy.
“He’s found it difficult here, he hasn’t played much in the last few weeks, obviously done great and got his minutes for Scotland, which is helpful for everyone.
“But again, it’s a tough team, a big squad. Who are you leaving out? That’s why everyone wants to sit in that (Smith’s) chair.
“The most important thing is that they just focus on being footballers. The rest should be just noise.”
Smith has nine matches until the January transfer window opens but after a summer transfer spend of around £60million initially on nine new players, with over £20m to potentially follow, Webber wants the focus to be on getting more from the current squad.
“I think it’s too early to be talking about January,” the Welshman added. “There are a lot of games between now and then and there are a lot of players that we haven’t seen enough of yet to see what is really there.
“I think we’ve got a well-balanced squad, a talented squad. Of course, if we get to January and there’s something we desperately need to do and we need to be creative on that, then we’ll do it.
“But we need to remember that we spent a lot of money in the summer, we’re not sat there with incredible amounts in the bank to go and sign a £20million striker or whatever.
“First of all, it’s about believing in the group that we’ve got because we do and we believe there’s much more to come. Then like every transfer window, we’ll reassess it and see where we are, so it’s probably a question for eight weeks down the line.”
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