Football League World
·30 July 2024
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·30 July 2024
Norwich City paid around £1.5m for Ben Chrisene after the defender completed his move from Aston Villa.
Norwich City have paid around £1.5m for left-back Ben Chrisene after he completed a permanent transfer from Aston Villa.
The Canaries have been looking to strengthen the left side of their defence after both Sam McCallum and Dimitris Giannoulis left Carrow Road earlier this summer.
And, progress was made on that front on Tuesday, as Norwich announced the arrival of Chrisene on a four-year deal from the Premier League side.
As is often the case in today’s game, the Norfolk outfit didn’t share the fee they had paid for the 20-year-old, who started out at Exeter City.
However, journalist Nick Mashiter has provided more information on the deal, as he confirmed that they had paid £1.5m for the youngster.
Chrisene was very highly-rated when he came through the ranks at Exeter, and his potential was evident by the fact he featured in the first-team as a teenager.
He would then move to Villa, but he understandably had to leave on loan to get game time, with Chrisene spending the 2022/23 season with Kilmarnock, but injury restricted him to just 13 appearances in the Scottish top-flight.
Another temporary switch was sorted in January of this year, with Chrisene joining Blackburn, and he played 16 times in the Championship as they survived on the final day thanks to a win over title winners Leicester City.
So, the Canaries are getting a player that knows what this league is about, even if he only spent a few months at Ewood Park.
But, that will have convinced the recruitment team at Carrow Road that he is capable of making an impact in the second tier in the years to come.
At £1.5m, this is a relatively low-risk move in the modern game, and if Chrisene develops in the way that figures at the club hope he will, then he could potentially rise in value quite considerably.
Of course, like all youngsters, there are areas of his game that need to improve, but that is sure to come in time, and Chrisene will hope that the coaching of Johannes Thorup on a day-to-day basis will also make a difference.
You would expect Norwich to be in the market for one more left-back this summer, so Chrisene will have competition for his place.
Nevertheless, it’s clear that he is going to be involved in the first-team, and he will hope to win a place in the best XI of the new boss.
He had a taste of the Championship last season, and playing in a better Norwich side could allow him to flourish.
So, it’s a great chance for him to really get his career going, and it will be interesting to see how this fee is viewed in a few years' time.