Germany, Switzerland and beyond: A guide to Paul Lambert's contacts.

Norwich City manager Paul Lambert has enlisted the help of his former team mates at Borussia Dortmund to find new recruits for the Canaries.

He recently told the Pink’un: “I’ve spoken to a few people that I played with abroad who are at football clubs at the minute,” he said. “It’s good to have people that I can phone up and ask them.

He continued: “The club that I played with over there is absolutely massive and I have a good relationship with people there and the lads that I played with are at certain teams and I can pick up the phone to.”

His former team mates are based in Germany and Switzerland doing a variety of jobs, giving him the perfect opportunity to scour the continent for bargains. Some might be ideal for the Championship run-in; others would be more suited to the Premiership. 

Lambert wants players that are young, hungry and have a point to prove. Not those who want to come to the club for the sake of it. Conveniently, a lot of the people Lambert says he’s contacted  are involved with youth teams.

So, who could Lambert have contacted, and who could they be recommending?

Former Rangers ‘keeper played in the 1997 UEFA Champions League Final and now lives in Switzerland. Lambert’s manager at Dortmund is now the current head coach of Switzerland, Ottmar Hitzfield.

Defender Scott Sutter, who plays for BSC Young Boys, would make an ideal target. He is 24 years old and plays at right back. He has recently been capped by Hitzfeld. Considering Russell Martin is Lambert’s only right back, and he is keen to bring in back up, Sutter could be an option. Sutter also comes from Potters Bar and was part of the team that played Tottenham Hotspur in the Champions League earlier this season.

Former Swiss International Stéphane Chapuisat is scouting for BSC Young Boys; his knowledge of the Super and Challenge leagues, their versions of the Premiership and Championship respectively, would be useful for Lambert.

Two of Lambert’s Dortmund team mates are still at the club. Wolfgang De Beer is currently the Goalkeeping Coach and Michael Zorc is the General Manager. The club has had considerable success with young players recently with Nuri Sahin, Mats Hummels, Mario Gotze and Kevin Grosskreutz regularly playing for the first team. They’ve propelled the team to the top of the Bundesliga.

The chances of these players coming to Norwich are non-existent, but Lambert could be keeping an eye on the next best thing playing in Dortmund’s youth team. If Norwich get promoted to the Premiership, Lambert will stand a better chance of getting a hot prospect on loan.

His contacts stretch beyond the Ruhr. Former Ghana striker Ibrahim Tanko is on the coaching staff at FC Koln; one of his former midfield partners René Tretschok is the Under 19s coach at Hertha Berlin. Andreas Moller is at Kickers Offenbach, not far from Frankfurt. Over in the USA, striker Jovan Kirovski is a team mate of David Beckham at LA Galaxy.

 

He even has contacts at the top of German football. Matthias Sammer is currently the German Football Association’s Technical Director; he is responsible for the national youth teams and focusing on the development of young players. Considering the German’s reputation for producing excellent footballers, the chances of Lambert speaking to Sammer are high. He has probably given Lambert a list of names.

There is plenty of scope for speculation, but going through a list of potential targets would be pointless. It is likely that Lambert will have considered dozens of players suggested to him by his foreign contacts. 

Considering how closely guarded transfer speculation is at Carrow Road, Lambert will no doubt spring a surprise.