Liam Gibbs on loans, life under Thorup and injury progress

The young midfielder ticked off half an hour against Standard Liege on Saturday and is preparing for further minutes in their Carrow Road friendly opener against Magdeburg tomorrow night. 

Gibbs went under the knife after suffering a thigh injury back in April and has utilised the summer to recover and build up his fitness. 

The next stage is building up a reserve of minutes to jostle his way into Johannes Hoff Thorup's thoughts ahead of their first competitive fixture at the Kassam Stadium next month. 

“It’s feeling a lot better now. The injury has recovered and is almost back to normal. I still need to gain a lot of fitness but I got my first minutes in Belgium and it was good to be out there after such a long time out.

"It’s been a long summer for me with lots of work and rehab. I’m back in and around it and really excited for the new season," the City midfielder said. 

"I’ve had two weeks of training, but the difference between games and training is massive, and I felt that in Belgium. I just need to build up my minutes, and that will help. There is a lot of training and games to go before the season, so it’s exciting.”

Thorup has already outlined the pivotal role that he sees Gibbs playing in his side in the upcoming Championship season, and that will be welcomed by the youngster who was left frustrated last term. 

The Dane's predecessor did not seem to trust Gibbs as a central midfielder, and his position was constantly shuffled, from out wide to even playing up front at stages. 

Liam Gibbs made his first pre-season appearance in Belgium last Saturday. (Image: Adam Harvey/Newsquest)

There was some suggestion that he could have departed the club on loan in January if a replacement was sourced, but Gibbs has poured cold water on the prospect of a move elsewhere to continue his own development. 

“I’m a Norwich City player, and I want to remain a Norwich City player. This is the best place for me to develop," Gibbs insisted. 

"Even though I might not have been playing many minutes, if I feel that I can improve, and I definitely do under this coaching team, then I’ll stick at it and fight to get myself into the team.

"Loan moves aren’t always my first choice, and I don’t see why they would be – I’m a Norwich City player, and I want to be here at this club.”

Thorup's playing style is one that should favour the technically proficient Gibbs, with an emphasis on playing forward fast through a possession-based game. 

Although he didn't take part in Wednesday's open training session at Carrow Road, Gibbs is enthused by the City boss' vision and welcomes the embedding of the young talent in the academy. 

“It’s really exciting. Since he’s come in, he’s got a lot of new ideas, and it just sounds exciting for the fans – nice, attacking football, and we’re all buying into it," the midfielder said. "We’re looking forward to the new season.

“I would be really excited as a Norwich City fan this season. We also need to be patient because it’s a change in the style of play but it’s going to be exciting, attacking football. Hopefully, we score a lot of goals in front of the fans.

Johannes Hoff Thorup rates Liam Gibbs highly. (Image: Focus Images Ltd)

“We’ve got a lot of good, young talent. This manager is definitely going to want to use that. The club is going in that direction where they want and need to bring through young talents really. That’s how the club has always been.

"The main reason that I wanted to join Norwich City in the first place was that pathway that I saw for myself. I’ve been lucky enough to go on and do that in the first team but I’m looking forward to pushing on again this season.”

Despite the positive noises around Gibbs ahead of the new campaign, he faces a tall order to break into a City midfield that contains plenty of talented individuals. 

City possess Gabriel Sara, Kenny McLean and Marcelino Nunez in that area of the pitch as well as Jacob Sorensen. Thorup has also taken a look at Kellen Fisher and young Uriah Djedje in that area of the pitch. 

Gabriel Sara is among the midfield competition for Gibbs at Norwich City this season. (Image: Adam Harvey)

But competition is welcomed by Gibbs, who believes it will only strengthen Norwich's cause in the Championship as a whole. 

“It is tough, but it’s good to have competition in there and it really raises the standards in training," Gibbs said.

"We’re all competing against each other, and that’s healthy competition, which actually helps improve us more as players, having very good players to compete with day in and day out. It’s really good.”