Norwich City massively hit the jackpot with £150k star and these 5 others

Norwich City has played in the Championship for most of the past ten years, with the exception of three Premier League relegation seasons.

But if it weren’t for their amazing transfer market success record, they probably wouldn’t have had those opportunities in the top flight at all.

Signings from Brazil to Denmark and all points in between are included in this list.

Let’s examine six signings when Norwich truly struck gold without further ado.

Teemu Pukki

Teemu Pukki is one of the few that have made it to Carrow Road and left their mark on the club.

After joining the Canaries on a free transfer from Danish team Brondby, the Finland international made 210 games, contributing to two campaigns that won promotion with 88 goals and 29 assists.

If the club had originally paid millions on him, there wouldn’t have been any objections, but the fact that he came to a free makes the deal even more appealing.

Gabriel Sara

When Norwich saw Gabriel Sara playing for Sao Paulo in Brazil, they bet £6 million that he could regain his form in England.

His 96 appearances, 21 goals, and 17 assists left no room for dispute regarding his success.

Furthermore, Norwich made a nice profit when they sold him to Galatasaray of Turkey just two years later for a reported £20 million.

Emi Buendia

When Norwich acquired Emi Buendia in the summer of 2018, he was not quite the Premier League household name he is today.

Even his comparatively paltry £1 million fee to bring him out of Getafe may have appeared a bit outrageous given that his best contributions up to that time had come in the Spanish second division.

That idea would turn out to be incorrect, though, as he arrived at Carrow Road and scored eight goals and provided 17 assists across all competitions in his debut season. A few years later, he enticed Aston Villa to make a club-record £33 million swoop for the creator, which was another huge money spinner for the Canaries.

James Maddison

Norwich had previously acquired attacking midfielders and sold them for high prices; they had done the same with James Maddison a few years prior.

They loaned the now-Tottenham player back to the Sky Blues for the remainder of the season after signing him from Coventry City early in 2016.

He would only play for the Canaries for one season, from 2017 to 2018, but it was an incredible one, scoring 14 goals, dishing out eight assists, and attracting another huge bid—this time for £20 million—from Leicester City in 2018 to expand Norwich’s collection.

Ben Godfrey

Norwich’s other big-name acquisitions were from reputable teams, typically in the top two divisions of a major footballing nation, but for Ben Godfrey, they ventured into the non-league market and paid £150,000 to get the defender from York City.

Godfrey would need some time and a loan to Shrewsbury Town before he could make a significant impact on the team, but once he did in the 2018–19 campaign, he was unstoppable.

He caught Everton’s eye after two seasons as a vital member of the Canaries’ backline, and they spent £20 million to bring him to Goodison Park in 2020.

Grant Holt

Like his successor Teemu Pukki, Grant Holt’s name will likely be among the first that comes to mind when discussing Norwich’s great players.

Holt, who cost £400k to sign from Shrewsbury, helped the team escape League One with his goals, and the next season, he led them straight through the Championship to earn and keep a spot in the Premier League.

He made 168 appearances with the Canaries in those divisions, contributing 35 assists, 78 goals, and creating memories for a team that would have looked unattainable upon his arrival.

They’ll likely never spend their money so well again.

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