Norwich City hit the bullseye with £3m transfer deal – He left too soon though | OneFootball

Norwich City hit the bullseye with the signing of Dean Ashton, but he didn't stay at the club for too long.

Between 2000 and 2005, Dean Ashton had established himself as one of the outstanding strikers outside of the Premier League, and when he made the step up to the top-flight with Norwich City, he continued to showcase his abilities.

In the winter transfer window of the 2004/05 season, with Nigel Worthington’s Norwich struggling in the battle against relegation from the Premier League, the Canaries struck gold in the market.

Ashton, who had steadily begun his career with Crewe before exploding in the previous season and a half in the Championship, made the long drive south east to move to Carrow Road for a fee believed to be in the region of £3 million.

He hit the ground running from the off and impressed many as he made the step up to the top-flight for the first time, doing so in a struggling side, but his performances were of such a good level that Norwich couldn’t hold on to him for long.

Ashton proved himself to be more than capable at Premier League level

The Swindon-born striker had notched 74 goals in 177 appearances for Crewe since making his debut during the 2000/01 campaign, and after notching 19 in 44 First Division appearances during the 2003/04 season, he was electric in the first-half of the 2004/05 campaign.

The Railwaymen were struggling in the bottom-half of the Championship, but appeared to have found their feet well with 23 points collected from seven matches in the run up to the New Year, with Ashton the focal point as he notched eight goals in those nine games.

His form was such that, after scoring 18 times in 24 appearances in the second-tier that season, Norwich decided that he would b the man who could fire them out of danger in the Premier League.

His first goal for the club came on his home debut at Carrow Road, as he made it brought Norwich back to 4-2 down against Middlesbrough in the 80th minute in a game they would go on to get a 4-4 draw in.

Ashton went on to score six more crucial goals in the final 14 games of the season, including winners against Newcastle United and Birmingham City, as well as scoring and assisting in a famous 2-0 defeat of Manchester United in the run-in.

Norwich’s form picked up with Ashton now in the building, but Norwich were still eventually relegated on the final day of the season due to a 6-0 loss at Craven Cottage against Fulham.

Ashton, though, was tasked with spearheading Norwich’s promotion challenge next season, but the side got off to a woeful start with three draws and then three defeats in their opening six matches. Despite that, the striker had notched four in his opening seven appearances of the campaign.

By the time the January transfer window came around again, Ashton had already reached double figures in the Championship for a side that had sunk to as low as 18th in the table, but were trying to push back up towards the top-half and the top six.

12 months after arriving at Carrow Road, his form in both the Premier League and the Championship meant that Norwich couldn’t hold on to him for much longer and he returned to the top-flight with West Ham United.

Injuries hampered Ashton’s career

With the Irons, he struggled to find full fitness and get regular game time, only completing 90 minutes on one occasion before the end of the 2005/06 season, and that coming in their penultimate game of the season in a 1-0 defeat of relegated West Bromwich Albion at The Hawthorns.

Despite that, though, he had actually scored in each of his first three starts for the club, once again highlighting that this was a player to be reckoned with in the Premier League. He also notched in the famous 2006 FA Cup final, whereby West Ham suffered a 3-1 penalty shootout defeat to Liverpool, having been 3-1 up after extra-time at the Millennium Stadium.

Off the pitch, the Hammers were in flux at the time and the summer of 2006 saw the arrivals of Javier Mascherano and Carlos Tevez in controversial circumstances, with injuries now taking a hold and hampering his continued rise.

A broken ankle whilst on international duty with England saw him miss the entirety of the 2006/07 season, but returned to hit double figures for West Ham in the 2007/08 campaign.

The ankle injury he sustained with the Three Lions continued to haunt him, though, and he was forced into an early retirement mid-way through the 2009/10 season at the age of just 26.

The injury with England is what eventually effectively ended Ashton’s career, but he had shown his potential to become a menace and a fox in the box at the highest level for club and country early on in his career.

His time at Norwich was a bright one, but, perhaps just like Ashton’s career, it was a bright light that faded far too quickly – especially for the Canaries, who would soon find themselves in League One.

It was a bit of a masterstroke by Norwich to plump for someone banging the goals in in the second-tier, but his time at Carrow Road was all too short, and, in spite of his goals, they never felt the full effects of the quality that Ashton possessed.