After Aaron Cresswell snub, Norwich City must raid League One club for teenage sensation

Norwich City are building an impressive squad under Liam Manning, but the Canaries did miss out on the signature of Aaron Cresswell this week.

Liam Manning has been splashing the cash so far this summer, with the £6.9m capture of Mathias Kvistgaarden hailed as a ‘remarkable’ signing.

The Canaries have also added Harry Darling and Jakov Medic to their backline, but recent attempts to reinforce on the left-hand side came to nothing, with Aaron Cresswell choosing Stoke City instead.

While missing out on such a talented and experienced player will be a blow for Norwich, they can still find a brilliant option to fill that gap in their squad by shopping in League One.

Norwich City need to sign Andre Garcia from Reading

We are still expecting some new faces to come through the door at Carrow Road this summer. One potential Norwich City signing is Pelle Mattsson in the midfield areas, but it sounds like the Canaries are keen to bolster the left side of defence, too.

Instead of targeting someone of Cresswell’s profile, Norwich should be looking longer-term and trying to sign Andre Garcia from Reading.

The 17-year-old full-back is just coming off the back of a brilliant breakthrough campaign in League One, where he played 43 times for the Royals.

That’s incredible, really, given his age. Plus, Garcia didn’t just feature for Reading, he played a starring role and has proven he is more than ready to step up to the second tier.

Garcia wouldn’t come cheap, especially considering he’s attracting attention from the Premier League already. It is thought Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham, Man City, Man Utd, Newcastle, Leeds, Everton, Crystal Palace, Fulham, and West Ham have all watched him in 2024/25.

But, if Norwich are serious about their aspirations of reaching the top flight, they need to act like a Premier League club in the transfer market.

First-team football can be key to beating Premier League rivals

The dilemma facing Andre Garcia at this juncture in his career is that, while those Premier League suitors would all be very tempting, it would be hugely damaging to go from playing week in, week out, to being a peripheral figure.

At the age of 17, being a small fish in a big pond is not the way to go. Instead, he should be looking at a club like Norwich, who would offer him far more first-team opportunities, and realising this is the best path for him.

Of course, there’s every chance Garcia will believe staying with Reading for at least another year is worthwhile. He’s got a guaranteed first-team place there and he’s obviously in no rush to move on.

If he fancies a calculated risk, though, joining the Liam Manning revolution at Norwich could be the ideal route to the Premier League for Garcia, without taking too big of a leap so soon in his fledgling career.