Ricky van Wolfswinkel features: Norwich City’s 5 biggest transfer flop signings from recent times
With the transfer window closing last week, Norwich City will be hoping their new signings will settle in Norfolk, something the following players could never do.
Whether they were underwhelming, forgettable or completely abysmal, these players certainly won’t be showing their faces around Carrow Road anytime soon.
Here are five transfers from the post-2000 era who never lived up to the billing with the Canaries.
Ricky van Wolfswinkel – 2013
A player who had so much promise and hype, the Dutchman was seemingly bound to succeed at Carrow Road.
At just the age of 24, he had made a name for himself in Holland, which got him the original move to Sporting.
That turned out to be his only ever Premier League goal for the Canaries, as Norwich suffered relegation.
Ricky van Wolfswinkel had loan spells in France and Spain before departing Norwich in 2016, for a return back to Holland at Vitesse.
Now, the Dutchman is still in his home country with FC Twente, where he has amassed an impressive 42 goals in 122 games – form Norwich never quite saw.
Michael Theoklitos – 2009
This one is certainly more on the bizarre side of transfers from the Canaries.
In 2009, Norwich picked up Australian goalkeeper Theoklitos after impressing with Melbourne Victory.
Now, you’ve heard of bad debuts, but this was on another level.
Theoklitos conceded five goals before half-time itself and Norwich were humiliated 7-1 by their East Anglian rivals, as their return to the third tier after 50 years started horribly. Despite this, the Canaries still ended up winning the title that season.
However, the Australian never played for the club again, but was included in the squad for a Johnstone’s Paint Trophy game at Gillingham.
In 2012, he opted to change his name to Michael Theo, which Norwich fans saw as a way of changing his identity after his debut.
‘Theo’ has since become successful back in Australia with Brisbane Roar and is now an assistant coach at Nunawading City.
Ondrej Duda – 2020
In a more recent time, Norwich signed Duda on loan from Hertha Berlin in January 2020.
The Slovakian’s time at Carrow Road went down for all the wrong reasons. There was a sense of relief when the winger was signed after having a standout season in the 2018/19 season in the Bundesliga.
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