The way that Norwich City were relegated was very disappointing. In the end, instead of the valiant fight that we all hoped they would put up after football re-started, it all ended with a whimper, a damp squib, as the Canaries failed to win a single game, or even draw one, in the season’s final nine games.
That hasn’t stopped their brightest young stars being linked with big money moves away from Carrow Road. We’ve already read about Max Aarons interesting Bayern Munich as you can see below.
Bundesliga Giants Track Norwich Star, A New Signing Arrives And Another Is Training In Holland!
However, it is another Academy product that is taking the headlines at the moment with speculation swirling around Ben Godfrey and the interest that he supposedly has attracted from Italy in the form of AC Milan (yes, you did read that correctly) and from German in the shape of Bayer Leverkusen.
The link is being reported by Sky Sports who say that €33m is the price that Norwich want for their man and they’re adamant that he isn’t going to leave on the cheap. The current wage structure, coupled with relegation clauses means that all of the City squad can be afforded in the Championship if necessary. I say if necessary because it is by no means certain that anybody will be sold but it would seem likely, with two or three sales for big money coming in handy with refreshing the squad in general.
Sky Sports report that Godfrey’s representatives met with AC Milan officials in Italy before the Italian giants’ match with Cagliari on Saturday. Whether Godfrey would be interested in such a move is unknown but his representatives discussing it with potential suitors is fairly normal and you would expect your agent to deal with such things on your behalf if you were the player.
A move to Italy would be a big opportunity for Ben but arguably, also a pretty daunting one with huge pressure on his young shoulders if he did make such a move, taking into account the move to a new country with it’s culture and, of course, language.
If Ben does go and follows in the steps of the great “General” Franco Baresi and links up with modern day legend, Zlatan Ibrahimovich, and there’s no smoke without fire so something is afoot, who replaces him?
Included in the same Sky Sports article are a couple of paragraphs that link Norwich with former Canary, Ryan Bennett, currently at Wolves and Fulham’s Alfie Mawson.
Bennett, 30, was one of seven players released upon Stuart Webber’s arrival, three years ago, and he moved to Wolves along with John Ruddy, with the pair becoming crucial parts in the Wolves surge to promotion. Bennett has been a bit part player of late though and was recently loaned to Leicester City. He seemingly still has a house in Norfolk and has family in the county too. This would be a fairly easy, comfortable move to make for Bennett and I think he would add something to the defence, for sure.
The other name linked is Alfie Mawson, 26, who joined Fulham in 2018 for £20m but was injured at the turn of the year and hasn’t featured since January, although he is fit again now. Again, he would be a decent signing and he has been in a couple of England squads back in 2018 but never got a cap. According to Sky, Norwich have made enquiries about both players but I imagine that Mawson would be quite expensive, even for a club with €33m in their pocket.
Both of these links are just enquiries but Mawson looks a little rich for Norwich. Happy to be proven wrong though, Mr Webber.
OTBC
Godfrey isn’t a Norwich academy product, they bought him from York City