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QPR, Summer Transfers And Norwich To Win The Title

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Norwich are making us wait for the Championship title, aren’t they?

Having been promoted without kicking a ball last Saturday, the game that evening against Bournemouth started with such promise but that was quickly snuffed out but a somewhat dubious red card and then having to play three quarters of a game with only ten men – against the league’s form team, as well.

Three days later, with little proper preparation and some serious celebrating having been done, not to mention a few players having to play with niggling injuries, Watford put in a very good performance and left Carrow Road with all three points. The gap is down to just five points now but there are only nine left to play for, so City are still in a very good position.

The upcoming games are a little tough looking though, with QPR, who are on a very good run of form, playoff chasing Reading after that and then an away trip to Barnsley. Hopefully, Barnsley will be confirmed in the playoffs by the final day and looking to rest a few key men, hopefully.

Daniel Farke’s men have had a few more days rest now and will be looking to go again in pursuit of their second Championship title in three seasons, after dominating this season up to this point.

Having spoken to the media via video press conference from Colney on Friday lunchtime, Daniel Farke told us that he has no new injury concerns ahead of the trip to Loftus Road.

Presumably, Adam Idah is also that much closer to getting a place on the bench which adds to the attacking options that may well be required. QPR have won four of their last six games, with their two losses in that period both coming away from home at Rotherham and Forest by the same score line 3-1. At home they have beaten Coventry and Sheffield Wednesday by three clear goals each and they also beat Swansea 1-0 in Wales, last time out.

There has also been a fair bit of speculation in the last couple of days surrounding Max Aarons’ future with The Press Association suggesting on Thursday that Max has been told he can leave this summer for the right price, something that Farke was asked about on Friday lunchtime.

“Max Aarons is under a long-term contract with us. He’s one of our best players and we have no intention to sell him. In his shoes, we can offer him total trust and teammates who love him. He has a good chance to play an important role in the Premier League next season for a club that loves him.”

Sounds good eh? If a club comes in with a £30m offer though, it might be tough to turn them down. Max is clearly a very good player already but Farke believes he can go right to the top and play for one of the very best clubs in the world. I get that feeling too and you only have top look at Ben Godfrey’s progress at Everton to see that he was ready to make a move away to work under a top coach at a bigger club, not that we don’t have our own top coach.

After the events of the last year, every club has had to take a financial hit of some sort and I very much doubt that there will be wads and wads of money being thrown about this summer. That could be important for Norwich in terms of keeping their best players. If someone like Max were to leave then he surely needs to be going to a top team to be their first choice right-back, doesn’t he?

To that end it will be interesting to see which clubs can afford the reported £30m fee. Max is on a long contract, so there’s no need to sell on the cheap and the club can offer the likes of him and Emi Buendia another guaranteed season in the Premier League, where they can learn, grow and become even better players. We might just be able to keep one or both of them, I reckon.

Sure, there will be the Manchester Citys and the Chelseas of the league who will remain active at the highest levels of player purchasing and I’m sure there will be a few clubs with cash in Spain, Germany and Italy, although the pandemic has hit the big two in Spain hard, hence their fondness for the doomed European Super League.

It’ll be interesting to see what happens but I would remain confident that a succession plan would be in place if Max or Emi leave, just like when Xavi Quintilla and Dimitris Giannoulis replaced head turned Jamal Lewis. I’d say that both were an upgrade too.

First things first though, let’s get this title won as soon as possible. Four more points ought to do it, even if Watford are perfect in their remaining three games.

OTBC

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Editor - a forty something Canary, who has been following Norwich for 30 odd years. Family man with wife, kids, dog and a love of sport. Fan of Boxing, Vale 46, F1 and Rock.

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