Drmic Will Be Keen To Prove Himself All Over Again At Norwich

Norwich City have announced the signing of Josip Drmic on a free transfer, with the Swiss international striker signing a three year deal with the Canaries.

We are delighted to announce that striker Josip Drmic is set to join the Club from July 1! 🤝😁 #ncfc

Full story ⬇️

— Norwich City FC (@NorwichCityFC) June 24, 2019

Drmic will join the Canaries on 1st July when his contract with Borussia Monchengladbach expires. This is that rarest of things, a Norwich City transfer rumour that actually had some legs. It was first mooted a week or so ago and the most interesting thing about it at the time was that despite searching around the World Wide Web, I couldn’t find any other teams linked to Josip.

Here’s our original story.

Drmic began his career at Zurich, scoring 18 goals in 40 appearances, form that earned him a move to FC Nurnberg in 2013 and that’s where his career really took off.

That first season in the Bundesliga 2013/14, saw him score 17 goals, putting him third in that season’s list of top scorers behind only Robert Lewandowski and Mario Mandzukic, which is pretty decent company to be in.

https://twitter.com/iwritethings23/status/1143218519523434496?s=21

If you take the time to watch this little video, I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised, although bear in mind this is from around six years ago, it is though in the Bundesliga, which is Germany’s top league.

His movement and most importantly, his finishing, look very decent and dare I say it, it all reminds me a little of Teemu Pukki.

A move to Bayer Leverkusen followed just a year later where he scored 6 goals and then in July 2015, a big money move, reported as being €10m came in the shape of Borussia Monchengladbach and that’s where it all started to stutter a little bit.

He managed just one goal in the first six months there and was loaned out to Hamburger SV in 2016, scoring just one goal there too.

All in all, Josip managed 7 goals in 43 appearances at Monchengladbach, which isn’t brilliant by any stretch of the imagination but it is worth remembering that throughout all this, he’s been a regular Swiss international since 2012.

His record for Switzerland isn’t bad at all with 10 goals in 32 capped appearances but the move to England and Norfolk is the fresh start that I imagine he’s been craving after struggling with a number of injuries over recent years at club level.

Getting back to that 2013/14 form is what the club, us the fans and of course, Josip himself, will be wanting. Kevin Hatchard is a Bundesliga Radio commentator who also does a bit for TalkSport amongst others. Here’s a tweet from him about Josip.

Drmic to #ncfc is an interesting one. Had one incredible season in the @Bundesliga_EN for Nurnberg, but has flattered to deceive since. Injuries haven’t helped, but his form has also been underwhelming. Farke clearly sees something, so hopefully it’ll work out.

— Kevin Hatchard 🎙⚽️ (@kevinhatchard) June 24, 2019

In terms of attributes as a player, he’s 6 feet tall, good in the air and quick with it too. He’s going to be moving country to a league that he has no experience of and that is widely acknowledged as being one of, if not the, toughest places in the world to play your football.

It’s fair to say that this is a big challenge.

He’ll know Timm Klose from International football, which will help, and he’s already told us that he’s spoken with Timm at length about the club and the area, so he should have a pretty good idea of what to expect.

Despite City’s free-flowing football and chance creation in the Championship, none of us knows quite how the team will adapt to the top flight yet, where chances will be in much shorter supply than Teemu Pukki found them to be last season.

Drmic will no doubt fancy his chances of making an impact. You don’t play as often as he has in the Bundesliga or for Switzerland without having a certain level of self-confidence but he will be all too aware of Teemu Pukki and his current stellar form.

It’s a fresh start and a brilliant opportunity for Josip and one that he has grabbed with both hands, how it pans out is going to be exciting to watch.

“Will he do an RvW or a Pukki?”

We all hope it will be the latter and getting that first goal as soon as possible will be on his and our list of things we want the team to quickly achieve, along with winning our first game, naturally.

Another thought that crossed my mind, is where does this leave Jordan Rhodes now? Is that our only striker addition this summer or, bearing in mind that Patrick Roberts and Drmic haven’t cost anything other than wages (I accept that there may be a loan fee for Roberts), will the club now wait and look to do a late deal for Rhodes?

That wouldn’t be a bad strike force at all, with Srbeny perhaps ready for a Championship loan.

Daniel Farke has shown himself to be an excellent coach and manager of players, seeming to understand what they need and when. As he is coaching a squad assembled in his own image now, rather than an inherited one, that should help him even more.

So, welcome to Norwich Josip. You’re going to love it!

OTBC