The Canaries' seemingly never-ending injury crisis has certainly had an impact, with Aston Villa loan export Lewis Dobbin out for the season and Matej Jurasek picking up a thigh ailment shortly after his debut.
But much of the fascination with recruitment poster boy Jacob Wright comes down to the position he plays. Again and again the latest in a long line of impressive defence midfielders has been awaited, with an Alexander Tettey-shaped hole the focus of supporters for four years now.
Add to that the fact that Wright arrived from Premier League champions Manchester City and it was always going to be difficult for the 19-year-old to fly under the radar at Carrow Road. For better or for worse, his every move has had an extra iota of scrutiny, highlighting every pass and, especially, every tackle he makes.
What's ironic about that pending defensive midfield diagnosis is that in many ways he doesn't fit the mould. Head coach Johannes Hoff Thorup has admitted that his charge is "not a physical player" but more of a technical one. The Dane is more interested in Wright's ball-playing capabilities than his suitability for the role of destroyer.
Perhaps that's simply an indicator of Thorup's priorities, but it's not hard to see why he's come to that conclusion.
Canaries head coach Johannes Hoff Thorup sees the midfielder as more of a technical playerCanaries head coach Johannes Hoff Thorup sees the midfielder as more of a technical player (Image: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd)
Wright has only averaged one successful tackle per game since joining Norwich, while he's completed 193 passes and moved the ball more than 3,000 yards already. Any product of the Citizens' midfield production line will have spent more time learning how to control games with the ball than using physical strength to win it back.
But Friday night's 1-1 draw with Oxford United showed progress in that department, and his rapid development in a few short weeks is another attribute in the 'pros' column.
Twice now Thorup has praised his performance against Hull in press conferences, not because it was particularly exceptional but because it started poorly. His ability to turn thing around mid-game caught the eye of someone who helped thousands of young players improve their games in a decade of academy coaching, as the Norwich boss first detailed last month.
"Something you can see with good players is that they learn from their actions in the game, and can actually do better in the same game," he said. "They don't have to go back and evaluate and be ready for the next one. I was impressed with that."
That ability to self-evaluate should combine with the English youth international's talent to create a recipe for success in Norfolk, and there's plenty of evidence of the latter, too.
He was known to have been courted by Swansea right up until his deadline-day decision to move to Norwich, and recent reports have suggested that he was close to joining Derby County early in the window as well. What won out for his new club, however, was style of play, one more box ticked for Thorup.
"He's the type of player that we really are looking for," added the 36-year-old yesterday lunchtime. "His personality is also a good fit for us, because he is a guy who spends a lot of hours on the training pitch."
There has been a level of inconsistency to Wright's play, of that there's no doubt. It's worth remembering that the same criticism applies to many of his much older team-mates, however, and that he's still younger than several of the club's under-21s who are yet to make their first-team debuts.
In many ways evaluation of his performances must be through the same filters as with 18-year-old Oscar Schwartau, whose age provides similarly startling context. And it's hoped that the conveyer belt doesn't stop there on Ben Knapper's mission to build a strong, young squad.
It's looking ever-likelier that Wright is recruited permanently this summer, and it's true that he feels like a modern-day City player. That might be in Norwich rather than Manchester, but Thorup will be delighted as a result.