Manchester United youngster Harry Amass signed for Norwich City on loan until the end of the season in the January transfer window.
06:00, 13 Feb 2026
Manchester United academy star Harry Amass has had a bizarre 2025/26 season. The teenager moved to Championship strugglers Sheffield Wednesday on last summer’s deadline day and enjoyed his first spell of regular senior football in the English second tier. During his time in South Yorkshire, Amass came under fire from previous United head coach Ruben Amorim in a press conference.
In December, the Portuguese boss suggested Amass was ‘struggling’ at the bottom of the Championship, to which the youngster responded by posting a picture of himself with a player of the month award. Amorim then doubled down and claimed some of the club’s academy players were entitled.
Following that spat, Amass returned to United in January and despite clubs pushing for promotion to the Premier League being interested in his services, the defender completed a move to Norwich City, who were, at the time, hovering above the relegation zone. But speaking to MEN Sport, The Pink Un’s chief Norwich City reporter Connor Southwell explained why United chose Carrow Road as the best destination for their man.
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“You look at some of the other clubs mentioned, Stoke and Watford are two who I know liked him, it was a surprise to everyone,” Southwell said when asked why Norwich won the race to sign him. “When [Lucien] Mahovo got injured, they had to dig into that database of players they have and the recruitment team pulled out Harry’s name very quickly. Philippe Clement watched him, really liked him and then it progressed from there.
“The fact Norwich were able to get him was a major coup when you look at his career and not just where he is at at the moment, but also where he could get to. It is clear Manchester United really rate him highly.
“I recognise where Norwich were in the league but since Philippe Clement has come in, anyone who has watched them would argue they are not a team really in danger of relegation. They have shown that in the last few weeks with the run of form they have been on.”
Clement is a manager many United fans will be aware of, having previously been in the dugout for Rangers, AS Monaco and Club Brugge. Southwell believes the 51-year-old will have been a big factor in persuading Amass to move to Norfolk.
He added: “Clement as a coach is a blend of being a little bit of a throwback in terms of being big on man-management and knows how to get into a player’s psyche and knows how to get the best out of them. But also, tactically, he is quite modern, quite flexible and what we have seen so far from Norwich is that he has been able to take a group – which is the youngest in the Championship by far – and improved not just one or two of the players but the bulk of the players.”
Amass first caught Southwell’s eye in November when Wednesday drew 1-1 with Norwich at Hillsborough. “From a fan’s perspective, there was a lot of excitement,” he explained.
“Norwich played them in November and I kind of walked away from that game thinking his name was the one I was really impressed by because of how he played and the bravery he showed. His ability to adapt to the robustness of the Championship at such a young age was really impressive. You look at some of the teams who were linked and the fact Norwich were able to get to the front of that queue was really encouraging.”
The youngster made his debut for the Canaries in a 2-1 win over the league leaders at the time, Coventry City, but the first impression Amass gave raised eyebrows among those covering Norwich and supporting from the stands. “The first impression was probably not the one we expected because his only minutes for Norwich came as a right winger which I don’t think any of us expected,” Southwell laughed.
“He came off the bench in that win against Coventry and I don’t think that is something Harry expected, there was a few eyebrows raised. But that gets to the heart of what could have been.”
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Alas, left-back Amass has picked up an injury since his unusual debut at right wing. Clement has described the injury as being serious and it is expected the United youngster will miss most of this season, albeit he could return for the run-in.
In a double blow for Amass, Southwell believes it is unlikely the Canaries will come back in for him next summer as they would prefer to develop their own left-backs in Ben Chrisene and Mahovo.
“All of that makes it really disappointing,” he concluded. “I think Harry Amass would have had a lot of fun with Norwich and Norwich would have had a lot of fun with Harry, it is just a shame that injury has cut that short.
“It felt like this was a good chance for him to progress and continue that upward trajectory at Norwich in a team that is improving and is getting better under a coach who is getting the best out of individual players. I don’t think it has totally ended but it has been cut short drastically from what it would have been if he had been fit still.”
