Norwich City new boy Jacob ‘Lungi’ Sorensen is the real deal, insists Jens Berthel Askou - the last Dane to shine for the Canaries.
Askou, part of a squad who won consecutive promotions under Paul Lambert, is promising City fans Sorensen has the potential to be a hit at Carrow Road.
The ex-defender has already given the 22-year-old the inside track, after a spell at Sorensen’s previous club Esbjerg towards the end of his own playing days.
“I just told him I was really happy for him. He is coming to a great football club, fantastic city, passionate fans - but loyal fans,” said Askou. “I told him to enjoy it and I wish it was me who could turn back the clock 10 years.
“I remember it like it was yesterday.
“He said he had already met many people at the club and got a good first impression. I know he is really looking forward to it. I just told him, ‘trust in yourself and believe you have the ability to make an impact’.
“Then I said I will keep an extra eye on him.
“I know him a little bit. When I was a player there and recovering from a hernia I trained and did some coaching with the younger age groups. His father has been a coach there for many years, the assistant coach when I was there.
“I think he was 15 or 16 when I was there and perhaps he wasn’t the most eye-catching player at that time of all the youngsters. You could see he was a good player at a young age but not that he would go on to a big club like Norwich.”
Askou, himself a coach now in the Faroe Islands, has charted Sorensen’s progress at Esbjerg.
“It will be very interesting to see how he grows at Norwich,” he said. “He is still young but he has already played three full seasons. The first was in the second tier, where they got promoted, and the last two seasons in the Super Liga.
“He has a good, physical presence, good vision on the ball and he is able to play under pressure. He likes to be engaged in the physical side of the game and he has a good right foot. He scored some cracking goals for Esbjerg.
“I would call him a good, all-round midfielder who will develop massively when he takes a step up to a club like Norwich.
“He is mature. He knows his strengths and weaknesses.
“I am glad another Dane gets another chance at a big club in England. Not a lot of Danes have gone over these last years.”
• Read more from Connor Southwell’s exclusive chat with Askou on these channels on Friday
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