Norwich City make major Jonathan Rowe decision amid Leeds United and Marseille transfer interest

Jonathan Rowe is expected to miss Norwich City’s Carabao Cup clash against Stevenage this week with reports claiming he will train with the under-21s for the foreseeable future.

Rowe has been subject to transfer interest from Leeds United and Marseille over the past week and was not involved in Norwich’s 2024/25 season-opener at Oxford United on Saturday, a game they lost 2-0. Fabrizio Romano reported over the weekend that French outfit Marseille had submitted a formal offer while the YEP understands Leeds remain keen on the 21-year-old.

Speculation intensified over the weekend when Norwich’s matchday squad for Saturday’s trip to Oxford did not include Rowe, with discussions between club and player taking place earlier that morning. And The Pink Un reports that the Canaries winger indicated to head coach Johannes Hoff Thorup that he was not ‘motivated’ to feature at the Kassam Stadium.

They add that following talks on Sunday between Thorup and sporting director Ben Knapper, the decision was made to keep Rowe out of the squad for Tuesday’s Carabao Cup clash against Stevenage. The youngster will now train away from the first-team picture while a decision is made on his long-term future.

Leeds remain interested in Rowe but his demotion to the under-21s does not necessarily guarantee an exit, with Norwich thought to be holding firm on their valuation. Thorup was understandably not best pleased with the last-minute nature of his absence but suggested a sale is not the only outcome.

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“There will always be (a way back), and it's just a matter of behaviour and how the players respond to this,” he said after Saturday’s defeat. “Of course, it's a situation that should not happen, but you can never know what happens on Sunday. We can have a good conversation, and we can have a not so good conversation, you never know.

“We have to build an environment based on players that have the desire to perform for Norwich, wherever we play, because that's important, and also for everyone around to respect that it is important that a club cannot be run by too many players. Not ones where they have ambitions to go somewhere else in the middle of a game day.”

With just under three weeks until the transfer window closes, Leeds are in no major rush to get a deal over the line but remain in the market for wide reinforcements, following Crysencio Summerville’s £25m-plus move to West Ham United. The YEP understands there were talks with Crystal Palace over a loan move for Jesurun Rak-Sakyi, but he now looks set to join Championship rivals Sheffield United.

Daniel Farke is currently well-stocked out wide, even after losing Summerville, with Dan James and Wilfried Gnonto starting on the right and left respectively for Saturday’s 3-3 draw against Portsmouth. Georginio Rutter and Brenden Aaronson can also be moved out wide if needed, with both doing so in the latter stages of that opening-day stalemate.