A sinking feeling is engulfing Norwich City at the moment as they continue to struggle in the Championship this season.
Despite starting the campaign with four wins in their opening six matches – and playing some of the most attractive football in the second tier – Norwich have now won just two of their last ten games.
Whilst the doom and gloom continues to have a stranglehold on the Canaries, Jonathan Rowe has been a rare beam of light in a dark period for the club.
The fleet-footed winger has attracted Premier League interest with his scintillating performances at Carrow Road.
Jonathan Rowe’s 23/24 statistics
Rowe is a product of the Norwich academy and signed his first professional contract in October 2021.
After impressing with the club’s under 23’s, he was fast-tracked into the first-team squad at just 18, making his Premier League debut against Crystal Palace.
At the end of the 2021/22 campaign, Norwich were relegated back to the Championship, but Rowe had established himself as an exciting prospect on the wing, turning out on 13 occasions in the top flight.
Although multiple injury setbacks prevented him from carrying that momentum into the second tier, making just three appearances last term, he’s certainly made up for lost time this season.
The 20-year-old has been the star of the show; a prodigal entertainer, who opens his box of tricks and dazzles defences with his speed, skill and agility.
When he receives the ball out wide, he’s so direct and difficult to stop in full throttle but unlike most wingers his age, he’s supplied an end product to match, scoring eight and providing two assists in 18 matches, with seven of those strikes coming in the Championship.
Rowe’s exploits in front of goal are even more impressive when you look at how supremely clinical he’s been in the final third.
Jonathan Rowe’s Championship shooting stats 23/24 | Figure |
|---|---|
Goals | 7 |
Expected goals (xG) | 3.03 |
Goal conversion % | 21% |
Shots per game | 2.1 |
Big chances missed | 3 |
All stats via Sofascore |
The destructive wide player, whose blistering form was rewarded with a call-up to the England under-21 squad for the very first time in October, has outperformed his xG by 3.97 and converted one in five of his opportunities, paying ode to how lethal he is in front of goal.
Rowe isn’t the only Norwich player who has showcased his devastating form this term, however, with winger Christos Tzolis currently ripping it up on loan at Fortuna Dusseldorf.
Christos Tzolis’ Dusseldorf goal record
Unlike Rowe, Tzolis has been sent out on loan to aid his development having featured 15 times for FC Twente last term and is now plying his trade in Bundesliga 2.
The 21-year-old youngster arrived at Carrow Road from Greek side PAOK in 2021 where he won the club’s Player of the Season award following an impressive 16 goals and ten assists in 46 appearances.
Whilst opportunities to replicate that form have been few and far between in England, Tzolis is currently enjoying a fruitful spell at Dusseldorf.
The Greek dynamo, who was described by Wagner as “top class” after scoring his first goal for Norwich last term, has showcased that quality in Germany by supplying the same number of contributions as Rowe – eight goals and two assists – in five fewer matches.
Clearly a talented youngster, much like the Englishman, Tzolis will hope to hit the ground running when he returns to East Anglia at the start of next season and in turn, demonstrate the quality that the Canaries have been missing out on.
