Premier League newcomers Norwich City were expected to make Lorient striker Alexis Claude-Maurice their record signing at Carrow Road.
Lorient striker Alexis Claude-Maurice turned down a move to Norwich City on Thursday as he was concerned about a lack of stability at Carrow Road, according to Le Telegramme.
Transfer deadline day started with Norwich fans dreaming of a new record signing. But the 5:00pm deadline passed with only Ibrahim Amadou arriving on loan from Sevilla.
France U20 star Claude-Maurice scored 14 goals in a breakthrough campaign for Ligue 2 outfit Lorient last season and had spent much of the summer being linked relentlessly with a move across the channel.
But there is no chance of him playing Premier League football now, at least until January. Le Telegramme claims that Norwich made a club-record £15 million bid on deadline day but the link quickly grew cold.
Now, it seems we know why.
According to an update provided by Le Telegramme, Claude-Maurice turned down the Anglian outfit as he wasn’t sure they would offer him ‘stability’. Perhaps he wasn’t sure about joining a club who could well be battling against relegation over the next few months.
Maybe Claude-Maurice wanted a more established Premier League club.
Being tasked with scoring the goals to keep a club safe from the drop is a lot to ask of a 21-year-old striker in his debut season so you can see why Claude-Maurice came to the decision he did.
But if Norwich ‘do a Wolves’ and thrive upon their return, there’s nothing to stop them returning in January to change the Frenchman’s mind.
