Norwich City

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Norwich City tried to persuade 16-year-old prodigy Ajay Tavares to remain at the club before he signed for Barcelona.

The young winger's move to the Spanish giants was confirmed earlier this week and he will initially be part of Barca's Juvenil A squad.

"We spoke to him about staying here, we had good talks about that, but at the end he made the choice to go and I understand why," head coach Philippe Clement told BBC Radio Norfolk.

"Everybody needs to be proud about that. Barcelona is not bringing in lots of players so that means he has exceptional things.

"That's also because of all the work everybody in the academy did with him but also about himself, what he did, his parents and his family."

Tavares first joined the Canaries at under-12 level, having previously been with Aylsham FC's Jaguars junior side.

"What an amazing achievement, a great message to share that with determination and hard work dreams really can come true!!!" Aylsham posted on X, external on Monday.

He played for Norwich at under-18 and under-21 level and had a run-out for the first team in a pre-season friendly against Volendam last summer.

"You want to keep players with those qualities but with the rules as they are it's impossible for us to tie down a player at his age because you cannot give him a big contract - there are different rules in Spain around that," said Clement.

"He has also a Portuguese passport - if it's an English passport you get a bigger amount of money as a club.

"There are a few things that are maybe disappointing but overall one of the local Norwich guys can go to La Masia and show his talent there and I think it's a point you need to be proud of as a club."

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Norwich City boss Philippe Clement offered consolatory words to Sheffield Wednesday counterpart Henrik Pedersen ahead of the meeting of the two teams at Carrow Road on Wednesday night.

The Owls' relegation was confirmed by defeat in the Steel City derby last weekend and they have now lost 10 games in a row.

Asked if he had ever been in a similar situation, Clement told BBC Radio Norfolk: "Not as a manager - as a player, yes, playing in a team as a young boy when they could not pay the wages.

"I still lived at home so it was not a big problem for me, but I saw team-mates with families, with children, struggling in that moment because they were not paid.

"I have seen those things and it was really hard, so I can only imagine how hard it is to work like that as a manager."

Clement confirmed, however, that Wednesday's predicament would have no bearing on Norwich's preparations for the game as they look to bounce back from a home loss to Birmingham City.

"For me, motivationally, there's no difference between playing against Sheffield Wednesday or Coventry or Barcelona," the Belgian said.

"It's about winning, and it's about giving everything to win this game as a team together."

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While Sheffield Wednesday prepare for life in League One, Norwich will seek to put further ground between themselves and the drop-zone on Wednesday (19:45 GMT).

Sunday's derby defeat at Sheffield United was a 10th straight loss for the Owls and confirmed their relegation, though seven of the 11 points they have earned on the pitch this season have come away from Hillsborough, including their only win of the season at Portsmouth in September.

After a run of five wins in six games, the Canaries went down 2-1 at home to Birmingham on Saturday but remain four places and six points ahead of the bottom three.

• Norwich are winless in their past four league games against Sheffield Wednesday (D2 L2), having won three in a row against them before this.

• Sheffield Wednesday won this exact fixture 3-2 last season, last winning consecutive away league games against Norwich between 2005 and 2009 (4 in a row).

• Norwich have only failed to score in one of their past 12 league games against Sheffield Wednesday, though they've also only kept one clean sheet in that run.

• Norwich have won their past three midweek (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) league games by an aggregate score of 10-1, having been winless in nine before this (D4 L5).

• Sheffield Wednesday are winless in their past nine midweek (Tues, Weds, Thurs) league games (D4 L5), with their last win coming at Norwich in this exact fixture last season.

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Norwich boss Philippe Clement felt the Canaries lost 2-1 to Birmingham at Carrow Road because of their poor start.

Norwich trailed 2-0 after just 14 minutes before they staged a comeback in the second 45 minutes, which Clement hailed as their best half under him.

The Belgian told BBC Radio Norfolk: "There were different parts to the game. In the first 20 minutes, were by far not good enough and not what we have been doing in the last few months, not on the front foot, not enough tempo on the ball, not finding the solutions and defensively giving away too much space.

"In the second half we changed it and we started to play better. At half-time, we could talk about the things which were totally not good, to go into details with the ball and without the ball.

"The second half was maybe the best half under me, I think. The passion, the quality on the ball, the chances, and a good goal.

"We were really unlucky not to have the points. We had 62 per cent ball possession, we had more chances than Birmingham, but they go home with the points and we lost the points in the first 20 minutes."

Norwich City are currently top of the Championship's form guide with 15 points from their past six games, level with Middlesbrough but having scored more and conceded fewer goals.

The Canaries have moved seven points clear of the relegation zone under head coach Philippe Clement, who has won 11 of his 19 games since being appointed in November.

Birmingham City will arrive in Norfolk two points short of the top six and with only one defeat from their past 10 outings.

• Norwich have lost their past two league games against Birmingham, which is more defeats than they suffered in their previous 19 games against the Blues in league competition (W12 D6).

• Birmingham won 4-1 against Norwich earlier this season (November 2025) and could do the league double over the Canaries for the first time since 2001-02.

• Norwich City have won six of their past eight league games (L2), with no Championship side winning more points than the Canaries since the turn of the year (18, level with Middlesbrough).

• Birmingham have won their past two away league games (2-0 vs both Sheffield Wednesday and Oxford United), as many wins as they recorded across their first 14 games on the road this season. They are looking to win three successive away league matches without conceding for the first time since October 2015.

• Norwich City have won their past two league games, keeping a clean sheet in both (2-0 vs Blackburn Rovers and 3-0 vs Oxford United); they last went on a longer league run without conceding in March 2021 (3 games).

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Puma's Rainbow ball will return to the English Football League as part of an on-going campaign against discrimination and homophobia.

The special edition rainbow ball was introduced in 2024 to mark LGBTQ+ History Month and will be used at every EFL game from 20 February until 1 March.

Manufacturers Puma will make a donation to Football v Homophobia for every goal scored with their rainbow ball across the Championship, League One and League Two.

The donations will help support education against homophobia and promote inclusion across the season.

The EFL have released a video, external to coincide with the campaign which features a Preston North End fan who was charged with a hate crime following homophobic chanting during an FA Cup fixture against Chelsea.

The rainbow ball will also feature in EFL partner EA Sports' FC 26 video game.

"The rainbow ball is a powerful symbol of the values we uphold across the EFL all season long," EFL chief executive officer Trevor Birch said.

"It not only reflects our longstanding commitment to ensuring the League is representative of all its diverse communities, but also reminds us that we all have a role to play in creating an environment in which everyone feels they truly belong."

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The draw for the FA Cup fifth round has been made. Here is a list of all the ties in the order they were drawn.

• Fulham v Southampton

• Port Vale or Bristol City v Sunderland

• Newcastle United v Manchester City

• Leeds United v Norwich City

• Mansfield Town v Arsenal

• Wolverhampton Wanderers v Liverpool

• Wrexham v Chelsea

• West Ham v Macclesfield or Brentford

The matches will be played over the weekend of 7 March.

Watch all the highlights and best video from this season's FA Cup

Marc Webber
Final Score reporter

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As I waited to do the post-match TV interviews in the Carrow Road tunnel on Saturday, the song "Ain't No Stopping Us Now" started booming out of the Norwich City changing room.

As I stuck my head out of the interview room to see what was going on, sporting director Ben Knapper walked past me with a grin like the Cheshire Cat on his face.

The unbridled glee was utterly understandable.

After all, Norwich were now in the fifth round of the FA Cup and their impressive run of results shows no signs of slowing.

Despite missing key players like Jovon Makama through injury, they have found squad depth, displayed by the likes of World Cup-tipped Socceroo Mohamed Touré, who has scored five goals in three games.

And the consensus in the terrace tea bars is Anis Ben Slimane is a completely different player under Philippe Clement than he was before.

There are more examples you can add to that list of amazing changes that have propelled this club from the pits of doom to joy in under three months.

On 8 November, over 250 Norwich fans gathered outside Carrow Road screaming "sack the board, sack Ben Knapper, sack Liam Manning."

On Saturday, tens of thousands of Norwich fans stayed inside the ground cheering their hearts out. No-one was taking about sacking anyone.

Football is a rollercoaster of emotions, for sure, and I have seen highs and lows like this before.

But in my three decades of reporting on the sport I can honestly say I have never seen such a quick turnaround in intensity of polarised emotions.

Norwich have got their mojo back.

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The 2025-26 FA Cup fifth-round draw will take place on Monday, 16 February at about 18:35 GMT.

It will be done before the fourth-round tie between Macclesfield Town - the lowest-ranked team left in the competition - and Brentford, with former England internationals Joe Cole and Karen Carney conducting the draw on TNT Sports.

Supporters can also follow the draw on the BBC Sport website and app.

All matches will be played around the weekend commencing Saturday, 7 March.

Unlike in previous years, there are no replays if matches end as a draw. All ties will go to extra time, and if necessary, a penalty shootout.

What are the ball numbers?

1. Liverpool

2. Fulham

3. Sunderland

4. Southampton

5. Wrexham

6. Arsenal

7. Chelsea

8. West Ham United

9. Mansfield Town

10. Norwich City

11. Port Vale or Bristol City

12. Wolverhampton Wanderers

13. Newcastle United

14. Manchester City

15. Macclesfield or Brentford

16. Leeds United

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Norwich City head coach Philippe Clement told crowd-pleasing Paris Maghoma and Ali Ahmed at half time to cut out the party tricks as his side beat West Bromwich Albion in the FA Cup.

The Carrow Road crowd were delighted with Maghoma's goalscoring full debut but Clement said, speaking to BBC Radio Norfolk: "I told him and Ali [Ahmed] at half time that I don't want a circus, I want an efficient team that kills off games. I am really pleased to see him score with the head.

"We deserved to win it. In the first half we were totally dominant, and scored one good goal, but it should have been two or three. In the second half we were also dominating but when a few players got a little bit tired West Brom came into the game.

"They scored a goal from a transition, not that they were outplaying us or creating chances, and then it's important to stay calm and continue doing what we've been doing. That's the big step the team has made - a few months ago they would have become nervous, and so would the stands, but nobody felt we would lose this game, not on the pitch and not in the stands.

"We could kick on by bringing on fresh players who have played a lot in the last couple of months and have rhythm."