Norwich City put on a transfer clinic with genius deal that landed them £38m: View | OneFootball

Norwich City did some outstanding business with buying Emi Buendia and selling him for a major profit.

Norwich City had a very busy summer window, with the club in a position to spend after the high-profile sales of Gabriel Sara, Jon Rowe and Adam Idah among others.

Generally, the recruitment team at Carrow Road targeted younger players, and that’s a process that makes sense.

For Norwich, the plan to improve will centre around recruitment, and the buying low and selling high model that clubs like Brentford and Brighton have perfected in the past decade.

Emi Buendia deal was brilliant business by Norwich City

To their credit, it’s an approach that has worked for Norwich in the past as well, and there’s no doubt the standout deal by the club in recent memory involved Emi Buendia.

The attacking midfielder was signed by the Canaries in 2018 from Getafe, in a transfer reportedly worth around £1.6m.

At the time, Buendia was with Getafe, who were a La Liga club, but he had been out on loan in the second tier with Cultural Leonesa, so it’s fair to say that he wasn’t the sort of signing that brought plenty of headlines.

However, it became apparent very quickly that Norwich had made a shrewd addition, as Buendia immediately established himself as a key player for Daniel Farke’s side, taking over from James Maddison after his move to Leicester City.

They were very big boots to fill, but Buendia embraced that responsibility, as he scored eight goals and registered 12 assists as Norwich won the Championship.

He couldn’t replicate those numbers in the Premier League the following season, but there were flashes of brilliance from Buendia as the Yellows were relegated, so it was a boost for Norwich when they managed to retain the player following their relegation.

The 2020/21 season saw Buendia step up another level, and it was arguably one of the best individual campaigns we have seen from someone in the Championship.

In total, Buendia scored 15 goals and registered 16 assists, with Farke’s men once again winning the league in style.

Norwich City make substantial Emi Buendia profit

Such performances meant even a return to the Premier League wasn’t going to be enough to keep Buendia in Norfolk, and despite plenty of talk, it was Aston Villa who won the race to sign the attacker, as they agreed a deal worth up to £38m.

Of course, from a football perspective, it was a blow for Norwich, and they were relegated once more, and they’ve not returned to the Premier League since.

So, his sale has to be put in perspective in that sense, but from a business point of view, it represented a major profit for the club, and it played out exactly the way Norwich wanted.

They identified a talent at a young age, got three very good years from Buendia on the pitch, and then sold him on for a massive profit. Unfortunately, the issue was that the money brought in from the sale wasn’t invested wisely, and Norwich suffered as a result on the pitch.

Moving forward though, Buendia was the best example of Norwich’s transfer strategy working, and the hope will be that Ante Crnac, Amankwah Forson and Oscar Schwartau can follow suit in the years to come.