Ranked: The top 10 best players Norwich City have produced from their academy – Do you agree? | OneFootball

Norwich City are producing some exciting talent at this moment in time, with Max Aarons one of English football’s most talked about full-backs at this time.

Daniel Farke is proving to be a great head-coach for the right-back to learn from, with the German offering Aarons regular football in the Championship and Premier League to develop.

Aarons follows the path of a number of exciting players to come through at Norwich, with Rob Green, Danny Mills and Angus Gunn just some of the names we are about to touch on in this article.

The task we have given ourselves at FLW is ranking 10 academy graduates at Norwich.

We have taken into account the potential of some, matching that up against what others have achieved in the game.

Not all of you will agree, but that’s all part of the fun!

Check out who makes No.10 on the next slide…

Martin started his career with Norwich and made a total of 117 appearances for the Canaries, scoring 34 goals.

He eventually moved on to Derby County, where he clocked up 74 goals for the Rams.

Fulham, Reading, Hull City and Bristol City have all also got their hands on Martin, who has formed a great career for himself.

537 appearances and 149 goals for the 32-year-old, who continues to go strong and has been on the books with Bristol City this season in the Championship.

Martin even featured for the Robins against Norwich this season in the Championship.

Shackell has had a long career in football, which stretches back to when he was with Norwich City.

The centre-back made 131 appearances for the Canaries before leaving for Wolves in 2008.

He did head back to Carrow Road on loan before spells with Doncaster, Barnsley, Derby and Burnley.

His most recent spell came with Lincoln City, as Shackell approaches the end of a career that’s seen him make 553 appearances.

It’s a career that he can be proud of and it all started for Shackell at Norwich when he made his debut for the club back in April 2003.

Jacob Murphy and his brother, Josh, both emerged from the Norwich City academy around the same time.

Josh is currently with Cardiff City, whilst Jacob is on the books with Newcastle United.

It is perhaps unfair to have one without the other, but Jacob is playing in the Premier League right now, which edges him onto this list.

He scored 10 goals for Norwich after breaking out of the club’s academy, before sealing a multi-million pound move to St James’ Park to link up with Newcastle.

A talent, no doubt, who at 26 should now be heading into his peak years with the Magpies.

Gunn’s youth career was spent with both Norwich and Man City, but we’ve opted to include him on this list.

The young goalkeeper has bags of talent, but a loan with Norwich, move to Southampton and loan out to Stoke City haven’t wholly convinced, it has to be said.

However, we know that the potential is there with Gunn, who at 25 has a chance to really elevate him to the top of the English game.

He needs to go some to get there, but in the life of a goalkeeper, 25 is no age and he’s got every chance.

That’s why we pitch him at No.7 on this particular list.

Lewis is a player that’s only recently emerged out of the Norwich academy, but he looked impressive for the club as they won promotion in 2018/19 and then again in the Premier League last season.

That, ultimately, opened the door for him to join Newcastle United back in the summer transfer window, following Norwich’s relegation back into the Championship.

At 23, the Northern Ireland international has plenty of developing to do, but it doesn’t take away from the fact that he’s already a top talent that’s emerged from the Norwich academy.

However, he just misses out on a place in the top five.

Right now, Cantwell is one of Norwich’s key men in the Championship and is going to have a massive say on whether the club can get back into the Premier League.

Alongside players like Max Aarons (we will come to him again), he’s got everything ahead of him and looks destined for a long career in the Premier League.

Whether that’s with Norwich or not remains to be seen, but there’s no denying the quality that the midfielder possesses.

By the end of his career, there’s a very good chance that Cantwell could be pitched higher in this list.

Moving onto Aarons, who is a teammate of Cantwell’s at Norwich right now.

The right-back is exceptional and in the last three seasons, he has been at the forefront of Norwich’s plans under Daniel Farke.

He’s going to go right to the top and it almost feels inevitable that he will eventually outgrow Norwich.

You could have made a case for putting Aarons into our top-three, but we’ve opted against doing so.

Admittedly, that could all change in the years to come as Aarons’ career threatens to take off and take him to the very top.

Stretching right back to the start of Mills’ career, he was on the books with Norwich City.

Mills made 73 appearances for Norwich, before moving on to Charlton Athletic and Leeds United.

He would make Champions League appearances for Leeds and help them to the semi-finals of that competition in 2000/01. That form at Elland Road propelled him onto the England set-up, with Mills involved in the 2002 World Cup.

His career was impressive and he is a reasonably strong pick in this list.

Aarons could well leapfrog him in the years to come, with the full-back threatening to emulate what his fellow right-back did.

Bellamy travelled around for his fair share of transfer fees, but his career began at Carrow Road.

The Welshman made 91 appearances for Norwich and scored 34 goals in that time, prompting Coventry City to come knocking for his service.

Spells at Newcastle United, Celtic, Blackburn Rovers, Liverpool, West Ham Man City and Cardiff City followed, with Bellamy enjoying a superb career domestically, as well as on the international scene.

In truth, we could have put Bellamy higher given the level he played at, but second place on this list – given the talent that’s on here – isn’t to be sniffed at.

Green is a regular pundit on Sky Sports now, offering his expert analysis on goalkeeping and the Premier League.

For him, it all started back at Norwich City and Carrow Road.

Green made 241 appearances for the Canaries before moving onto West Ham United, who he also passed 200 appearances for.

He had success with Queens Park Rangers after that, before finishing with Leeds United, Huddersfield Town and, remarkably, Chelsea.

658 appearances at club level, plus England caps and appearances at a World Cup, Green had some career and, for us, rightly takes a place at the top of this list.