Norwich will have 'offensive mindset' - Thorup

Johannes Hoff Thorup was brought in after Norwich City missed out on promotion from the Championship

Norwich City will play an attacking brand of football next season, according to new head coach Johannes Hoff Thorup.

The 35-year-old Dane recently took over following the departure of David Wagner, who was sacked after the Canaries missed out on a return to the Premier League when they lost to Leeds United in the Championship play-offs.

Thorup told BBC Radio Norfolk he wants his players to be “offensive-minded, always looking for that next offensive action".

He added: “On game days it should be, hopefully, that they can just play free and can enjoy playing with each other and play with that offensive mindset.”

Norwich finished sixth in the table last season under Wagner, who faced criticism from fans during what was often a frustrating campaign.

They will again be among the promotion favourites this time around.

Thorup, who left Danish top-flight side FC Nordsjaelland to take over at Carrow Road, believes they can feel optimistic about their chances.

“We’re not specific about targets, we’re more specific about high ambitions because it’s a fantastic club with fantastic support,” he said.

“And the ambition for this club should always be to play at the highest possible level. That’s what we aim for.

“From day one here, from the city and the people around the club, I had the feeling that it’s a fantastic place and great things can really be done here.

“The clear structure, the clear strategy, it gave me quite a simple decision to take. There’s great potential in the squad - great quality.”

Knapper's big call

Ben Knapper (right) led the search for a new head coach

The decisions to fire Wagner and install Thorup are the first major judgement calls made by Ben Knapper, who took over as sporting director last November following the departure of Stuart Webber.

Knapper said: “It’s so difficult. David’s a fantastic person and a great head coach. It’s never easy to make a decision like that.

“But ultimately I just felt that it was the right time. I think we needed to make a little shift in terms of our approach.

“The decision was clear in my mind, we wanted to act swiftly. I think we did that and we’ve got somebody that I think is really exciting.

“We looked at Johannes and thought he embodied everything that we were looking for.”

Star players could go

While a number of transfer targets have been identified, departures also seem likely before the new season begins in August.

The club’s policy has been to develop and sell players, with the likes of Emiliano Buendía, Max Aarons and Andrew Omobamidele having been sold in recent years.

There is currently speculation over the futures of Gabriel Sara, Josh Sargent and Jonathan Rowe, who have been linked with Premier League clubs.

“It’s in our DNA and I think it’s the way any responsible club should be run," Knapper said.

“If you have aspirations of having sustainable success then you have to trade.

“We’ve got a history of trading players and, whether [financially] we have to or we don’t, there’s always internal pressure from us because that [selling players] is just part of our process, so that will be no different.

“We’ve got talented players. It’s a great position to be in. You want to be in a position where you've got players other clubs are interested in, but let's see how the market develops."

He added: “If you want to achieve what we want to achieve, which is ultimately to get to the Premier League and stay there and try to establish ourselves, then we’re going to have to trade and to incrementally get better.

“We’re active in the market. We’re looking. We’re driven by seeing where we can be better.

“We know there are a couple of areas of the pitch that we’re interested in doing something with, but it’s important Johannes gets a chance to evaluate the squad as that will drive a lot of the decisions we make."