Norwich City fought off late interest from ‘bigger clubs’ to secure the services of Slavia Prague winger Matej Jurasek, Johannes Hoff Thorup has revealed.
Jurasek, a highly sought-after player, signed a five-and-a-half-year contract with Carrow Road for a fee of around £5.8 million. Club Brugge and other European clubs were also reportedly interested in his services.
That spurred City to increase their interest in the highly rated 21-year-old this month, a long-running pursuit that was ultimately confirmed on Thursday.
“We have been tracking him for a long time. What stands out most about him is his left foot, where he strikes the ball well,” Thorup remarked.
“He has a good finish and transitions well from outside to inside. He can dribble. He can move. He is an excellent technical player. He fits in nicely with the way we want to play and our system.
“What was most crucial to us was to sign the contract before any other team stepped in. We noticed at the end that several clubs, with all due respect to us, that are little larger than us began to show an interest in him.
“We had to do that deal as quick as possible.”
Due to post-Brexit laws on football transfers, City will have to wait until after the transfer window to register Jurasek as a member of the Championship team.
Despite the wait for his debut, Thorup revealed a strategy for preparing the winger for life in England so that he can hit the ground running for Norwich.
“It’s the same with me, with you and everyone – when you sign a new player, you just want to get him in the building as soon as possible,” the head of the club stated.
“We’ll miss out on him for roughly four games. At the end of the day, in a few months, we’ll probably forget that this happened. The most essential thing for us was to close the deal and ensure that he was signed to be our player.
“We had him in the building for a few days, sat with him, and devised a clear plan. A couple of physical performance trainers will fly to Prague to ensure he completes the necessary tasks while remaining in good shape and condition.
“We tested him, and some of his numbers were comparable to some of our top performers. He’s in a good place, and we need to make sure it stays that way.”
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