Alex Tettey is out of contract in the summer and it’s going to be touch and go whether he stays or he leaves Carrow Road.
At the start of the season, Tettey was on the side lines, he was told by Daniel Farke, his new Head Coach, that the make up of the side, the way it played was going in another direction and it wasn’t Alex’s.
Fast forward to the eve of the first international break of the season and Farke’s revolution was faltering. City had just been hammered away at Millwall 4-0 and something needed to change.
His new centre back pairing of Marcel Franke and Christoph Zimmermann was inexperienced at this level and they were being caught out time and again. Timm Klose was fit again after suffering an injury in pre-season at Cambridge and would return after the two week break but Farke needed some steel.
He’d loaned in Harrison Reed to be the defensive shield in a 4-1-4-1 formation but Reed was being over run.
What to do?
The only thing to do was to get Alex Tettey back in the squad and to change formation. 4-2-3-1 was a formation that the existing players knew well from Alex Neil’s tenure and with Timm Klose back in the fold alongside Zimmermann, things improved. So much so that City went five games without conceding a goal – a new club record.
Tettey was partnered with a young German named Tom Trybull, that none of us had ever heard of and we suddenly had a great central midfield pairing. Tettey broke up the play in his own inimitable/destructive style and gave the ball to Trybull, who’s eye for a pass started attacks.
The old war horse was off the bench and playing a big part in Norwich City’s season, just as he has done for the five years since he signed from Rennes for a reported £2m.
The toe punted winning goal at Old Trafford that left David De Gea just watching and the thunderous volley at Carrow Road against Sunderland were the best goal scoring moments so far, of his Canary stay but it’s the unsung work he does that has made him so important.
Countless crunching tackles and blocks, headers and just easing his man off the ball before giving the ball to someone who could play are standard fare in the 90 minutes of Alex Tettey’s Saturday afternoons.
Whether he stays on though is currently hanging in the balance.
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The big Norwegian seemingly has a new contract offer on the table from Norwich City but it will not match his current one, for obvious reasons.
I expect that he’s on a fairly sizable salary at the moment. If I had to guess, I’d put him at £30k+ a week and Norwich City can no longer afford that sort of contract.
Much will depend on what Alex wants to do. There were reports in the Norwegian press before Christmas that his wife would like to return to Norway and a former club, Rosenburg was also mentioned.
He’s not getting any younger, he’ll be 32 in April, so the length of any contract at Norwich isn’t going to be any more than two years, I’d assume.
Perhaps only a year with an option for a further 12 months after that and then there’s the inevitable wage cut.
With his dodgy knee and old Father Time against him, he’s got a big decision to make in the next couple of months.
Personally I would love to see him stay on. He’s still got a heck of a lot to offer in the Championship although if he does decide to leave, a certain Ben Godfrey will have his eye on the slot next to Tom Trybull.
Louis Thompson is another who could yet have a say in what goes on next season in midfield as well, so if Tettey does go, it’s not the end of the midfield world.
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Whatever happens between now and next August, Alex Tettey is a player that has given it all for Norwich City, never leaving anything behind because what would be the point of that?
I’m keeping my fingers crossed that we can keep him at NR1 a while longer yet.
OTBC
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