Friday 17 May 2019 11:08, UK
Norwich won the Sky Bet Championship title to seal a swift return to the top flight but they look set to plot their stay with one of the smallest budgets in Premier League history.
Fulham splashed out more than £100m last summer, only to come back down, and the Canaries' sporting director Stuart Webber has warned that boss Daniel Farke will have the "lowest transfer funds available... probably one of the lowest ever spent in the competition" as the club seeks to remedy "mistakes of times gone by".
But where do Farke's side need to strengthen and where might they find value in the market? Read on to find out...
David Prutton: "The great thing about Norwich - and there are echoes of what we saw with Huddersfield - is that the players who they brought in were not particularly well known to those within English football and the public who watch it.
"Teemu Pukki has been wonderful and I'm intrigued to see how he gets on in the Premier League but I always think that if you can add another goalscorer then that is something to look at. With the full-backs, it is just about keeping hold of the youngsters Jamal Lewis and Max Aarons and seeing how good they can be for Norwich.
"I don't think they need to go big, we've seen the cautionary tales with Fulham spending so much money. I think what Webber has done with regards to forward planning has been fantastic, I can't see him going bonkers with it now and I can't see Daniel Farke demanding wholesale changes to the squad because what we've also seen is the togetherness, similar to Sheffield United."
Goalkeeper Tim Krul played 46 games last term after a series a of injuries - his previous highest number of appearances (42) came back in 2011/12.
Will Farke be wary of over-reliance on Pukki? Significant goalscoring contributions came Mario Vrancic (10), Marco Stiepermann (9), Emi Buendia and Onel Hernandez (both 8) but Pukki scored 31 per cent of Norwich's league goals last season.
Norwich will be keen to keep hold of Max Aarons and his attacking output last term was key; he recorded six assists, created six big chances and was in the top five for final-third passes made by Championship defenders (403).
Daniel Farke: "Most of our key players are under contract and it's not as if we need to sign 15 new players or do an unbelievable amount of business," Farke said after sealing promotion. "We can't stay in the Premier League just with individual quality and signing unbelievably expensive players. We have to stay in the Premier League with our identity, philosophy, work ethic and principles."
As well as lifting the lid on the club's continued prudent approach, Webber admitted City will continue to seek out value in foreign markets. "We'll be looking to recruit smaller numbers, maybe three, four or five - it won't be seven, eight, nine, 10," he said.
"British players are more expensive in terms of transfer fees and wages and we can't afford some of them. There's some players we'd love to take even from the Championship but the transfer fees mean we can't go anywhere near them. It means we have to look a bit further afield."
Recruitment chief Kieran Scott has hinted that the Canaries' attractive style of play could give them the edge in the loan market. "One thing I am aware of is that the big clubs really like Norwich and how we play," he told The Pink 'Un. "So there might be opportunities for loans to come our way that might not have been, which you wouldn't say no to because it might be one of their exceptionally high-level youngsters."
Lyall Thomas: "Having been promoted to the Premier League as Championship winners, Norwich have the difficult task of keeping hold of their best players from last season while introducing greater quality in attempt to retain their top-flight status in their first season.
"Their young English stars - right-back Max Aarons and centre-back Ben Godfrey - have been particularly of interest to other Premier League clubs due to their homegrown status, while goalscorers are always wanted elsewhere and Pukki has been prolific.
"Norwich will concentrate their efforts in the market on a new goalkeeper, a centre-back - they are also keen on a right-back - a defensive-midfielder who is mobile and can get around the pitch, a winger, and another striker to give them a different type of option to Pukki."
A goalkeeper, a centre-back, a defensive midfielder, a winger and a striker.
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