Farewell, Norwich City. Will the Canaries return to the Premier League soon?

Norwich City’s upset of Manchester City was perhaps the most shocking moment of this Premier League season.

By: Kels Dayton

Norwich City was officially relegated from the Premier League last week, and as painful as it must be for fans to come to terms with, there’s little doubt this club can rebound and make it back to the top flight.

Despite losing 24 games (so far) and accruing just 21 points, there was actually quite a lot to enjoy from Norwich’s season.

So let’s give them a proper send-off and remember the good times from a ridiculous 2019-20 campaign:

Farewell, Norwich!

We’ll remember the Canaries, first of all because they’re named the Canaries, which is dope—but also for their brightly-colored unis, attacking style of play, and Teemu Pukki. It’ll be hard to forget Teemu Pukki.

The Finnish striker banged in 11 goals, many of them at the beginning of the season before a toe injury slowed his progress. He led the league in goals for a significant part of the early season, putting one in the back of the net against Liverpool in the season opener and scoring a hat trick against Newcastle on August 17. He hasn’t scored since January 22 against Spurs, as teams have closed ranks on him, but you’ve got to wonder where he’d be if he was fully healthy.

Moment of the Season: This is undoubtedly their 3-2 upset of Manchester City at Carrow Road, which was the most shocking result of the entire PL season and maybe of the last half-decade. Pukki and Todd Cantwell both found the back of the net for the Canaries, as the league’s bottom club upset its defending champions.

Possible departures: Todd Cantwell, Teemu Pukki

Cantwell is the most obvious name—because he’s shown a lot of class (six goals this season) and is only 22. He should be able to fetch a nice sum on the transfer market, though Norwich may want to hang on to him as they try to get back to the Premier League. Pukki certainly has the scoring flair to play at a bigger club, and given his age (30), may like to stay in the Premier League. Leeds United, current Championship leaders, are said to be interested in him. Cantwell is drawing interest from Sheffield United, among others.

Could they be back soon?

Norwich is the epitome of a yo-yo club, so it’s likely that we’ll see them back in the Premier League sometime in the next few years. They’ve got what it takes to compete whenever they find themselves in the Championship, and if they can retain some of their better players, they could be the favorites to win the league next year.

This team finished first in the Championship last season, ahead of European contenders Sheffield United, which is kind of shocking when you consider how well the Blades have done in the PL this season. Even if Cantwell and Pukki are both gone, it’s quite likely that ownership will spend on the type of players who will allow this club to compete for a PL spot once again next year.

How wrong we were:

2019-20 Preview

2019-20 Premier League season predictions: Who’ll finish where?

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