Injury blow threatens Norwich’s confident start against West Brom

Norwich City enter the 2025/26 Championship campaign brimming with confidence under Philippe Clement, yet a fresh injury to Canadian winger Ali Ahmed threatens to dull that optimism ahead of their opening home match against West Brom. The contrast between a hopeful start and a growing injury list frames the club’s early‑season narrative.

Action images By James Pennington Published Aug 4, 2026, 7:20 AM GMT+1. James is a Stoke City fan, born and raised in Stoke-on-Trent. He graduated from Leeds Beckett University in 2025 with a 1:1 (Hons) in Sports Journalism, and began his Journalism career with Football League World shortly after. Add Us Summary Generate a summary of this story Like Like follow Follow followed Followed Thread Log in Here. Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recap.

Clement guided Norwich through an excellent second half of the previous campaign, steering the Canaries away from the relegation zone and into striking distance of the play‑offs. The Belgian head coach’s impact has been credited with the club’s upward trajectory.

The club reinforced the squad with Andre Brooks from Sheffield United for £8 million, secured Bruno Alves on loan from Cruzeiro, and added Sam Field from Queens Park Rangers for a potential £2.8 million, bolstering depth ahead of the new season.

In the final pre‑season friendly, Norwich suffered a 2‑1 home defeat to Osasuna, but the headline story was the injury to Ali Ahmed. The 25‑year‑old joined in January 2026 from Vancouver Whitecaps for around £1.4 million, scoring four goals and providing three assists in 19 Championship games after his arrival.

Ahmed recently featured for Canada at the World Cup in North America, making four appearances before the side were eliminated in the Round of 16 by Morocco. His knee problem, reported around the 70th minute of the Osasuna match, could keep him out for an extended period.

Clement said, "He felt something in his knee. It's never good, of course, and everybody's a little bit devastated after that. You saw it on the pitch also, and that's normal because it comes falling out of the sky as a knock on all the team in that moment. But we need to accept it and see now the next couple of days what's the case, but it doesn't look good. It's hard because it's a guy that everybody loves because of his energy and positivity. So we will need to be there also to support him, because I think he's going to be out for a while."

Alongside Ahmed, Jovon Makama, Kellen Fisher and Lucien Mahovo are also listed in the treatment room, leaving Clement to reshuffle his wide‑area options. Players such as Matej Jurasek, Forson Amankwah, Andre Brooks, Ante Crnac and Papa Diallo can operate on the flanks, though Crnac and Diallo have yet to feature in pre‑season due to injuries.

Fans have taken to social media to send support after Ahmed’s setback, underscoring the club’s ongoing struggle with injuries that plagued them last season and now continue to test the depth of the squad.