As things stand, Norwich City are on their way to get a shot of regaining their Premier League status come the end of the season.
Fifth in the table after 16 games, Alex Neil’s side are only two points behind third placed Huddersfield, but if their recent form is anything to go by, sliding down the table is a real possibility, with just the one point from their last four games.
Still relying on Cameron Jerome for a large chunk of their goals, things could have been different during Norwich’s last season in the Premier League, when a new striker was on the shopping list during the summer transfer window.
One of the targets, as revealed by the player himself, was Grégoire Defrel, currently contracted to Sassuolo, moving to the Serie A side from Cesena during the summer of 2015.
Speaking to France Football about the interest from the Premier League he has allegedly attracted with this season’s form, the striker revealed he came really close to a transfer to Norwich the same summer he went to Sassuolo.
He said: “Actually, during the summer of 2015, Norwich were very interested, but I was scared of change. We’ll see next year. From here on in, I need to continue to score.”
Having played in Italy all his career, starting at Parma, the fear of moving to another country, one with a different language at that, can be expected.
Plus, if a team on the up in the country you’re currently in, like Sassuolo, comes knocking, there’s only one option.
As he said, ‘we’ll see next year’.
Who knows, if Norwich make it back up in the Premier League, they might get a second shot at signing him.
