What sort of striker do Norwich need?

When was the last time Norwich bought a striker who was a real ‘success’?

Many, if not all, Norwich fans would claim it to be Grant Holt. The Englishman joined Norwich from Shrewsbury in 2009 for a meagre £400k, with Norwich set to embark on a League One campaign.

He wasn’t seen as the biggest signing the club have ever made, but my word did he swiftly change people’s minds. In his first season at Carrow Road, Holt went on to score 30 times in 44 games – the most a Norwich player has scored in a season since the turn of the century.

Holt followed this up with 24 goals in the Championship season, then 25 goals in two seasons with Norwich in the Premier League. He was even touted for the England Euro 2012 squad, but missed out on a place in the squad – England were knocked out during the group stages.

Yet, his fairy tale Norwich career came to an end at the hands of Chris Hughton. The former Norwich boss was bemoaned by City supporters for a plethora of reasons during his two-year tenure, with the demise of Holt being one of the standout moments.

Hughton made it perfectly clear that Holt wasn’t going to fit into his defensive system, forcing Holt to leave the club in 2014 to join Wigan Athletic. Norwich went on to be relegated that season, with a lack of goals being cited as the main issue…

The talismanic number nine left Norwich, but Hughton had already drafted in his replacement. 22nd March 2013 – remember the date.

City have agreed to sign striker Ricky Van Wolfswinkel from Sporting Lisbon on a 4-year deal from July 1, subject to paperwork #ncfc — Norwich City FC (@NorwichCityFC) March” class=”redactor-linkify-object”>https://twitter.com/NorwichCityFC/status/315244140… 22, 2013

That was the date Norwich City completed the transfer of club-record signing Ricky Van Wolfswinkel for £8.5m from Sporting CP. Van Wolfswinkel was handed the iconic number nine shirt, with many tipping him for great things in the Premier League.

He joined a number of high-profile signings for City, with Gary Hooper, Leroy Fer and Nathan Redmond also joining the club that summer for reasonably high fees.

As he was signed whilst the season was ongoing, Norwich tried to build-up the hype. They started their own, rather embarrassing, Twitter hashtag – #WinkelWatch. Not the most sensible hashtag choice in my opinion, but I digress.

On paper, Van Wolfswinkel appeared to be the marquee signing that all Norwich fans had been calling for. He had scored 45 goals in two seasons with Sporting CP, so many assumed that he would be the clinical number nine we are all hoping for.

However, it doesn’t always work like that in football. When analysing his game further, it was fairly easy to see that 1; he needed to play in a two striker formation 2; he was going to struggle with the physicality of the Premier League and 3; he needed service.

Now, these may not have been much of a problem if he had of joined another Premier League side under a different manager. But, Hughton was dead set on using Van Wolfswinkel as a lone striker, which was an appalling decision.

Van Wolfswinkel was unable to hold the ball up, received no service from the rest of the midfield and was eaten up by centre backs because of his lack of strength. It was obvious after just a few matches that it wasn’t going to work out for him.

Of course, he did start with a dream debut. ‘The Wolf’ scored a sublime header against Everton on the opening day, looping a header into the top corner of Tim Howard’s goal after a mishit shot from Steven Whittaker landed on his forehead.

It all went downhill from there. Numerous missed chances and injury struggles led to a loan move away from the club the following summer – after Norwich’s relegation to the Championship.

So, ahead of the 2014/15 season Norwich were once again on the lookout for a new star centre forward. Kyle Lafferty was brought in from Palermo and took the number nine shirt, but he was only signed as a back-up signing. Cameron Jerome joined from Stoke for £1.5m and took the number ten shirt, with Lewis Grabban also signing from Bournemouth.

Jerome was the first choice striker for most for most of the season, although Grabban started the campaign in red-hot form. Jerome ended the season with 18 Championship goals, with a further three in cups and the play-offs. Grabban finished the season with 12 Championship goals.

Norwich were promoted to the Premier League, with the club clearly needing a striker capable of scoring Premier League goals. Many Norwich supporters felt Jerome was able to after his Championship heroics, and so he spent the season as the club’s first choice forward.

Although, Dieumerci Mbokani spent the season on loan from Dynamo Kiev, wearing the number nine shirt. Jerome started 19 Premier League matches last season, with a further 15 off the bench. The Englishman scored a measly three goals in that time, with a bucket load of missed chances under his belt.

Mbokani did score seven Premier League goals, but he was only able to start 14 games, with Jerome Alex Neil’s first choice. It was abundantly clear that Jerome lacked many qualities required of a Premier League goalscorer. He had the pace and work-rate, but lacked the hold-up play and technical ability, not to mention composure in front of goal.

Sure, Jerome is a good player at Championship level due to his pace and movement, but you have to look beyond that if you want to progress. Norwich see themselves as a club that belong in the Premier League, as supporters do to, so the club should be signing players with a view to playing in the Premier League.

With that point in mind, the club need to be signing a striker this summer who can do the business in the Championship, but who also has the potential to perform in the Premier League.

Alex Neil has made no secret of the fact he is looking to sign a new centre forward this summer, with the number nine shirt still vacant. So, what attributes should Norwich’s new number nine have?

Firstly, he needs to be proven at Championship level. This has already been made perfectly clear by Neil as he wants as close to guaranteed goals as he can get. So the new number nine needs to have a track record of scoring Championship goals.

Secondly, he needs to be strong. Any incoming striker needs to be able to fit the system. This means being able to occupy the lone striker role. In order to do this you need someone who is able to hold the ball up and bring others into play. This means that they have to be strong, clever with their body movement, and have good technical ability.

They also need to have clever movement. In the Championship you can score a lot of scrappy goals and capitalise on defensive mistakes, but in the Premier League you must have clever movement. We need a striker who can draw defenders away from play as well as make runs in-behind the defence to create chances for themselves.

Finally, and perhaps most crucially, they need to be a natural finisher. Jerome and Lafferty are many things, but they certainly are not natural finishers. Norwich needs someone with a pure goalscoring instinct. Forwards thrive off chances, but if Norwich do go back up they need someone who has a good conversion rate, which they missed last season.

So, with all these criteria in mind, who fits the bill?

For me, there are only two players; Britt Assombalonga and Chris Martin.

Both players boast impressive goalscoring records in England, that is clear for all to see. They are both very strong players, who hold the ball up with ease whilst using their strength. Assombalonga and Martin have clever movement, which is easy to see from watching them play week-in-week-out in the second tier.

The thing that most stands out to me about them both is that they are natural finishers. They both know how to find the back of the net, even in situations where there appears to be nothing on.

There has already been paper talk about Assombalonga coming into the club, but Nottingham Forest look very unwilling to sell. Now, he would actually be my second choice of the two. Chris Martin would be my first. I admire the way he plays the lone striker role, and I think he would suit our system perfectly. He would be a fantastic foil for the likes of Steven Naismith and Wes Hoolahan to play off and has the finishing ability to score 20+ goals in this league.

Martin has scored 60 goals in three seasons for Derby in all competitions, having left Norwich. The Canaries allowed Martin to join Derby on a free transfer at the time, something which looks like a colossal mistake now.

Would Martin be open to a return to the club? Well he’s spoken fondly of his time here since leaving. His family are Norwich supporters, with his mum having a season ticket at the club. He has a lot of relatives in East Anglia and is regularly spotted returning to the fine County. So, he is likely to jump at the chance of a return to his boyhood club.

Would Derby be willing to let him go? Well this is an odd one. He is currently second fiddle to Darren Bent and Derby are now on the lookout for another striker, so could Martin be pushed out the door? If he is, Norwich should be jumping at the chance to sign him…

So to answer the question ‘what sort of striker do Norwich need’ – one that plays for Derby and was born in Beccles…