Ricky van Wolfswinkel has today left Norwich City and returned to his native Holland, joining Vitesse Arnhem.
While in reality, the writing had been on the wall for ‘The Wolf’ for two years now, many fans still had hope that he could finally make his mark at Norwich.
Despite featuring in a number of friendlies and cup ties for Alex Neil, the Scot made up his mind that Ricky had no future at Carrow Road, and was happy for him to leave the club before the final year on his contract expired.
With the signing of goal machine Ross McCormack appearing to be a matter of when rather than if, Wolfswinkel would move even further down the pecking order for a manager who only plays with one striker. It would’ve undoubtedly spelt the end of his flopped spell at Norwich, and perhaps suggests a move for the Fulham striker is edging closer.
Life started perfectly for Wolfswinkel in the Premier League, scoring on his debut with crowd excitement reaching new levels. But it quickly went downhill.
Personally, I believe the moment Snodgrass stole the ball out of his hands to take a penalty against Villa was the beginning of the end. While a few ridiculous saves at Hull and Cardiff didn’t give him any good fortune, as well as being plagued by a mysterious ‘toe injury’, he also struggled to make any kind of impact when he did get on the pitch.
A few goals on loan spells across the continent showed he’d lost all confidence in front of goal, and his career was quickly stagnating. It was clearly in all party’s interests for Wolfswinkel to get a fresh start.
Despite his lack of achievements on the pitch, Ricky remained a popular figure amongst fans. Even as recently as the last couple weeks, some fans still had hope that he could get his Norwich career back on track. But today was the final nail in the coffin, as he officially departed the club for a fee likely a fraction of what he signed for in 2013.
From all at ReadNorwich, we will always be afraid of the big bad wolf.
