Norwich need two-year succession plan as Webber wants to ‘broaden horizons’
Norwich sporting director Stuart Webber wants to work abroad one day, according to Jake Humphrey, who says City fans shouldn't expect him to stay beyond 2022.
Webber has been a target for other Premier League clubs, according to the television presenter, who made the claims in a wide-ranging podcast interview with the Eastern Daily Press.
The former Huddersfield Town head of football operations joined Norwich in 2017 and has overseen a successful period during which the Canaries were promoted to the Premier League as Football League champions last year.
Moreover, the financial landscape at Carrow Road has changed dramatically with Norwich no longer an easy touch in transfer negotiations because they are on a much-improved footing.
City boss Daniel Farke has seen enough from working closely with Webber to predict the 34-year-old is the real deal and destined to work at one of the biggest clubs in the world.
“Stuart is pretty young for this job, but I am sure either he will bring this club to unbelievable success or he himself will one day work for one of the biggest clubs in the world,” said Farke.
Humphrey, a Norwich fan, also singled out Webber for special praise during the podcast.
“Premier League clubs have been sniffing around him,” he said. “They’ve picked up the phone, they’ve had a word and wanted to take him, but Norwich have done really well to hold onto him. I would say the three-year deal that he’s signed is probably how long we should expect him to be here for.
“I look back at the summer with a tinge of disappointment…”
⚡ You won’t want to miss this! Part 1 of our exclusive chat with Stuart Webber drops tonight.
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“He’s ambitious, he’s brilliant and I know he wants to broaden his horizons and work abroad.”
The Bundesliga would seem a logical next step for Webber, who signed that three-year deal in September, because of his track record of working with German managers such as David Wagner at Huddersfield and Daniel Farke at Norwich.
That may be more than two years away and Humphrey is confident that succession plans are either already in place or being made by Webber to find both his own and Farke’s replacements.
“I think, I don’t know this, but if you went to that club now they would tell you who, at this moment in time, their next sporting director would be and who the next manager would be,” he added.
