Alex Neil’s January window necessity

This week has seen Alex Neil discuss how his Norwich City sides lack of physicality has been exploited in the Premier League, as he admitted that not being one of “the biggest of teams in terms of size or stature” has held City back. With the January transfer window fast approaching, this is certainly one aspect that Neil will be striving to address. As one of the lowest spenders of the summer window, the club must surely have some relatively deep reserves at our disposal - and I take a look at one position that the club simply has to spend such money on; central defence.

Ask any Norwich fan where they would most like to strengthen in January and almost all of them, without fail, will point towards the centre of defence. The defensive frailties that served to derail our automatic promotion hopes last season have not gone away - which is hardly surprising when you consider the fact that we failed to address the situation over the summer, at a time when most felt two, never mind one, new defenders were a necessity.

Russell Martin is not a Premier League centre back, as has been found out on numerous occasions already this season, and Sebastien Bassong, while competent at this level, is not someone you would describe as wholly reliable. With last seasons reserves of Michael Turner, Ignasi Miquel and Carlos Cuellar all shipped out, this only leaves Ryan Bennett. In fairness to Bennett he has done a good job since coming in following Martin’s suspension, but there is a reason why Russell Martin, a right-back, has consistently pipped him to the centre back birth over the past 18 months - and that is certainly not because Russell Martin is a master of the position.

Irrespective of the quality of the three, in terms of quantity it still leaves us very weak. If you exclude Andre Wisdom, who Neil has evidently been reluctant to try in the position, we have just three centre backs - one of which is a natural full back - hardly sufficient for a team attempting to tackle the rigours of a challenging Premier League season.

With this in mind, a new central defender or two in January is, quite simply, a must for Alex Neil. In recent weeks City have been linked with Sheffield Wednesday defender Alex Lees. From what I have seen and read, Lees would fit our requirements perfectly.

Having failed to make the grade at Leeds United, a move down the M1 to their West Yorkshire rivals has seen Lees excel into one of the league’s best defenders. For the division, he is about as complete as they come; positionally sound, a comfortable passer and powerful in the air (standing at over 6ft, this will certainly help address some of Alex Neil’s physicality worries) - all traits which resulted in Wednesday having the third best defence in the Championship last season, with a club-record tally of 17 league clean sheets also claimed. Even in a side that has welcomed 16 new playing faces and a brand new coaching team since the end of 2014-15, Lees has remained an ever present and is the only Wednesday player yet to miss a game in league or cup this campaign, perfectly demonstrating his importance.

He will not come cheaply, with a reported asking price of £7m, and there is plenty of Premier League competition for his signature but one would hope that Neil could potentially use Wednesday loanees Gary Hooper and Michael Turner as potential bargaining tools, making a deal with Norwich more attractive than other possible suitors.

I feel that the addition of a top quality centre back like Lees will go some way to ensuring our survival this season - and if £7 million is what it costs to retain our Premier League status and the accompanying riches that brings, then it is certainly £7 million well spent.