"Taken us as far as they can" - Norwich City ownership limitation claim made | OneFootball

FLW's Norwich City fan pundit has given his verdict on the club's current owners

Norwich City are set to embark on another promotion push this season after reaching the play-offs last year.

The Canaries finished sixth in the table, but were eliminated from promotion contention in the semi-finals by Leeds United.

The 4-0 loss at Elland Road proved to be David Wagner’s final game in charge as manager, with Johannes Hoff Thorup replacing the German coach.

Norwich’s new sporting director Ben Knapper was key in the appointment of Thorup, with this summer marking a new era behind the scenes at Carrow Road.

It is set to be a competitive promotion battle this year, but the Norfolk outfit will be aiming to be right in the mix again over the coming months.

Norwich City ownership verdict

FLW’s Norwich City fan pundit Zeke Downes believes the current ownership of Delia Smith and Michael Wynn-Jones have done a great job in ensuring the financial health and stability of the club.

However, he has claimed that external investment is needed if they are to compete against the biggest teams in the division going forward.

“Delia and Michael Wynn-Jones have done a fantastic job over the years,” Downes told Football League World.

“But I think they’ve taken us as far as they can, especially in the current climate where you are only really going to succeed if you spend money, or if you spend the money it has to work every time.

“Like with Brentford or Brighton.

“And that doesn’t really happen anymore.

“If you look at the relegated teams last year, they were all the promoted teams, and that’s going to be quite common I think now because there’s just a massive gap.

“Delia and Michael Wynn-Jones don’t have the money to be doing that.

“We’re only really able to buy if we sell, so it doesn’t really give us much of a chance if and when we do go up, so ideally we need someone with a bit more money, like the other teams do, even Ipswich.

“They’ve done amazingly, and got us out of debt, which meant we’ve actually been able to get promotions and do really well.

“They’ve obviously been wonderful, but at this point they’ve taken us as far as we can go.”

Norwich City’s 2024 summer transfer activity

Norwich have made a few signings this summer, with only a couple of weeks remaining in the window.

José Córdoba and Ben Chrisene have signed on a permanent basis from Levski Sofia and Aston Villa respectively.

Callum Doyle has also joined Thorup’s side, arriving on loan for the season from Manchester City.

Norwich have until 30 August to finalise any remaining deals before market shuts for the remainder of the calendar year.

Norwich City ownership reaching its limit

The ownership of Smith and Wynn-Jones are beloved by a large portion of Norwich supporters for the long-standing work they’ve done for the club.

But the last few years have exposed some of their limitations, with the Canaries struggling to compete as well as they have done in the past.

Up and down years in the Premier League have finally seen them settle in the Championship, with this being their third campaign in a row in the second division.

External investment may be needed to bridge that gap to the top flight, although this season will be a big test of that theory as the new regime behind the scenes could yet prove themselves to be good enough to do it without extra spending money coming in.