Norwich midfielder Lee Croft has backed new Fiorentina loan signing Arturo Lupoli to be a massive hit at Carrow Road. The 21-year-old former Arsenal and Derby marksman agreed a season long loan switch from the Viola after the Seria A outfit rejected City's initial transfer bid.

Norwich midfielder Lee Croft has backed new Fiorentina loan signing Arturo Lupoli to be a massive hit at Carrow Road.

The 21-year-old former Arsenal and Derby marksman agreed a season long loan switch from the Viola after the Seria A outfit rejected City's initial transfer bid.

Lupoli could make his Canary bow in the prestige pre-season friendly against Tottenham next week as Glenn Roeder fine tunes his planning ahead of the Championship countdown.

Croft admits the rest of Roeder's first team squad have been impressed by the manager's hectic summer recruitment drive.

“He's a big name,” said Croft. “The gaffer can attract players like that, he's a big name in English football. It's just great we can attract not only Lupoli, but Elliot Omozusi from Fulham and Stefanovic, and we've got Wes (Hoolahan) who's come in and done well. He's a good little tricky winger so things are really looking up at the moment. The gaffer has brought in some quality. The competition is nothing but a good thing. There are going to be more coming in and I think it's not only good for individuals - you have to be on top of your game - but also good for the squad as a whole. We've got some very talented individuals now and we've got to make sure we continue to improve.”

Croft was on target in City's 3-0 Swedish finale at Falkenbergs FF and the former Man City trainee knows he need to improve his current goal ratio to get anywhere near Roeder's new look starting line up.

The23-year-old revealed City's management want him to be more ruthless in the final third this coming season after notching just four senior goals in 87 appearances since his £600,000 switch in 2006.

“Clarky and the gaffer have been telling me I need to get in the box more, on the end of crosses, so it was nice to get in there and the ball landed for me and I just had to swipe it in,” he said. “That's something I do want to work on this year and add a few more goals to my tally.”

Falkenbergs had been expected to provide a sterner test than Ahlafors, two divisions below them, but City's late weekend win over the part timers offered a much stiffer test.

“I think there were some positives to come out of the game on Saturday and the gaffer said it was going to be tougher opposition,” he said. “I think we stepped it up massively and made it even easier than it was on Saturday. I think it's come together nicely. The lads feel good, feel sharp. We've had a really good pre-season so far and the lads feel fresh and we're raring to go already and I think that was emphasised. We've got another great test on Monday night against Tottenham, which we're all looking forward to, and then there's one more - Colchester at home - until the season kicks off.”