Norwich City: Will they make a signing this January?

Specialist shows, tweets documenting every single stage of deals and the sense of frenzy is palpable as clubs race to get their deals down before the end of the month - only transfer windows are able to create that level of hysteria.

During this month, clubs will push their financial boats out significantly further they can afford or even take a gamble on a player who they've signed for the sake of it rather than following their regular due processes. 

January is a notoriously difficult window to recruit in. The prices are higher, clubs can be unwilling to sell to divisional rivals and the timeframe can mean opportunities that present themselves appear and disappear in the flash of an eye. 

It's easy to go rooting around for bargains and end up spending more than you planned and not end up with a lot to show for it.

Then there is the external pressure created by some outlets and even within the game whereby doing nothing is perceived as unambitious and uninspiring. 

In a game that is becoming increasingly short-term, the answer doesn't always lie elsewhere. It doesn't always need to involve money. That is a culture that, especially in the EFL, will have to change going forwards. 

Norwich have utilised this window in the past to prepare for the summer - Emi Buendia was famously a deal put together and negotiated by Stuart Webber in January. 

City's chief isn't a fan of making additions in the winter window and, in truth, the club hasn't had a high success rate of signings brought in during this month from Steven Naismith to Ondrej Duda. 

Then there is the financial element - Norwich have very little to play with in terms of resources. At the start of the window, it was always the case that they would need sales or external investment to make dipping their toe into the market a possibility. 

The departures of Jordan Hugill and Todd Cantwell may well have freed up some cash - but whether it opens up enough to bring in a player remains to be seen. 

Those deals were more about ensuring the club received funds for players who would have walked away for nothing in a few months, with both fees believed to be relatively small. 

Add in a desire to free up wages and streamline the squad and you begin to understand why they were sanctioned. 

But that doesn't automatically mean Norwich will seek to add to what they have. David Wagner will be making his own assessment of the group and has previously admitted his preference is to work with a smaller squad. 

Cantwell and Hugill have started nine games and completed three full 90 minutes between them - they were hardly frontline options. In that sense, there is no need for a replacement as such. 

Aaron Ramsey's recall was undeniably a bigger blow given his influence and the regularity of game time he received in the opening half of the campaign - the case for adding a replacement in that instance is greater. 

If you polled Norwich fans, the vast majority would probably wish to see an injection of creativity into this squad. 

But with Christos Tzolis and Milot Rashica both set to return to the club from loan deals away in the summer, that makes spending money on a permanent option this month unlikely. 

Jon Rowe is also making positive progress with his injury and Danel Sinani, despite speculation, remains in the building. Adam Idah and Josh Sargent could even play in those wide areas if absolutely necessary. 

You could make the case that is sufficient in terms of numbers, even if there could be an argument around quality or consistency. 

Would another option be helpful - absolutely, but not at any cost. 

The view from some supporters around the country is that a transfer needs to be done simply for the optics or the theatre of it all - but it needs to makes sense and add to what a club already has rather being emotive, expensive and reactionary. 

It's the idea of being seen to do something in some cases. If Norwich do anything before the end of the month, then it needs to be right and makes sense. 

Making no signings is invariably better than signing the wrong player for the sake of it - or wildly swinging at an opportunity just to tick a box. 

Ondrej Duda signed on loan for Norwich City in January 2020. (Image: PA Images)

But there is more to improvement than simply throwing money at a problem - it can come from other areas like coaching, achieving a better balance in a team and squaring off weaknesses. These are never instant fixes, though.

There is a real possibility that Norwich go beyond this month without making a single addition.

Many view this window as a chance to sign a player who can provide a lift or inject some quality into the side - but Wagner's arrival has created that naturally. 

Wagner has already managed to extract more from Kieran Dowell and Onel Hernandez in a tactical system that will demand a specific type of player in order to work cohesively and effectively. 

His arrival has made attacking the window more difficult given the club had already drawn up plans to strengthen under Smith. 

Wagner has asked for time to assess the current options before returning a judgement as to whether or not he needed reinforcements. The German has left the door open for all possibilities. 

But he will understand the financial predicament Norwich are in at present, with their parachute payments being utilised in other areas after a heavy spending summer window in 2021. 

Then there is the ethos that Norwich want to develop players through their own academy in the first instance. 

Since his arrival, Wagner has spoken up the quality of player currently in the academy system at the club. 

Abu Kamara looks most likely to be the next to break through whilst forwards Alex Matos and Ken Aboh are highly rated inside the club. 

David Wagner is taking time to assess his current options. (Image: Sonya Duncan/Newsquest)

Say Norwich sign a loan player from a Premier League club to sit on their bench for the next six months, that robs those in the academy who have highly rated the opportunity to make their own case and have the experience of being in and around a matchday squad. 

It is also about the message it sends to those youngsters - that the pathway they were told existed doesn't in reality. As Wagner has already said, it makes sense to fill those edges of the squad with young players rather than using the transfer market. 

Other Championship clubs are rushing to make signings before the 11pm deadline on January 31 - Norwich will decide in the coming days whether to actively search themselves.