Philippe Clement persuaded Liam Gibbs to stay at Norwich City in January, but has now explained why this was the right moment for the versatile midfielder to pursue more minutes elsewhere.
Gibbs completed a season-long loan move to Championship side Preston North End earlier this week, as he looks to establish a settled role and push on with his development after an injury-hit spell at Carrow Road.
The 23-year-old has made more than 100 appearances for Norwich, but has been deployed everywhere from full-back to striker, often making it difficult to build sustained momentum in one position.
Clement initially blocked Gibbs’ hopes of a January exit because of Norwich’s squad situation and limited options available, but now feels this is right time for the midfielder to to gain the regular football needed to take the next step in his development.
"Liam wanted to go in January already because he wanted to play more football. He had a lot of injuries here. I think in our time together, good steps are made to get him more fit," Clement said.
"In January, it was the first one or two months that he was training with the team. That moment I stopped it because with all the situations I saw, letting him go would cause problems. I convinced him that he would get enough minutes during the second half of the season to play what I saw in the training and the positions he could play, what he did and what he did in a good way.
"But there was a moment in his career that he wanted more regular time and we could not give that with the squad now, to be sure of that. It's important that he can take his minutes somewhere else to make the next step again in his career and hopefully come stronger back and then we can evaluate the situation."
Gibbs was followed out of the City exit door by Amankwah Forson, who completed a loan move to Israeli club Hapoel Be’er Sheva, as the club seek to protect the value they paid for the Ghanaian international.
"Even more for Forse in his position because he's quite specific," he said. "With Liam, you could use him in several positions, so more chances to play. With Forse, it was less the case and with the competition that is in the squad, I don't think he would get enough minutes.
"It's for him to play and also to keep his value because the club paid money for him to get him into the building. If he's not playing all season, then his value will drop."
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