Norwich City enjoyed a remarkable 2018/19 campaign, as they lifted the Championship title, and one of the most enjoyable parts of it was watching the young players flourishing under Daniel Farke.
Arguably, the biggest success story has been teenage right-back Max Aarons, who made his debut exactly 12 months ago today (14th August), against Stevenage in the League Cup.
Twitter: #OnThisDay 12 months ago, a certain @maxaarons2 made his senior debut in ? and ?!
He went on to have a pretty good… https://t.co/bmUrXQgqhE (@NorwichCityFC)
Despite being a right-back by trade, Aarons started at left-back and impressed as Norwich romped to a 3-1 win. Christoph Zimmermann, Marco Stiepermann and Teemu Pukki scored the goals, with fellow academy products Ben Godfrey and Todd Cantwell also starting their first games of the season.
He would still have to wait for his league bow, however, as Ben Marshall and Ivo Pinto continued to play at right-back in the Championship. Aarons’ next appearance came, again, in the League League as Norwich travelled to – at the time – Premier League Cardiff. The Canaries ran out 3-1 winners as Aarons continued to impress at fullback, with the youngster scoring his first professional goal in the game – collecting an Emi Buendia through ball and slotting into the bottom corner from a tight angle.
Norwich’s next Championship match after the Cardiff tie was a trip to Portman Road to face Ipswich in the East Anglian derby, and it was a surprise to see Farke hand Aarons, 18 at the time, his league debut for the club at right-back.
Aarons started in defence, with fellow academy graduate Jamal Lewis having already established his place in the team at left-back on the other flank. The pair impressed, although Norwich were only able to pick up a 1-1 draw against their bitter rivals.
The defender went on to start every single game for Norwich in the Championship for the rest of the season, ending the campaign with 41 straight starts – including his debut against Ipswich – losing just three times, against Derby County, Stoke and Preston.
Not only did Aarons impress those who support Norwich, but he also attracted attention from the wider media towards the end of the season. Aarons was named in the official Championship Team of the Season, as well as picking up the prestigious EFL Young Player of the Year award – beating off competition from Luton’s James Justin and Derby’s Harry Wilson.
These awards were, however, handed out before the end of the season, meaning that Aarons’ best award was yet to come – a Championship winner’s medal. The Canaries beat Aston Villa 2-1 on the final day, with Aarons and his teammates lifting the trophy in front of the away supporters – celebrating their promotion to the Premier League.
He ended the season with 43 appearances in all competitions, racking up three goals and six assists from defence. The youngster scored goals against Rotherham and Bristol City in the league, both of which were headers.
Aarons has, of course, now also made his Premier League debut for Norwich. The 19-year-old started at right-back as the club lost 4-1 to Champions League winners Liverpool at Anfield, with Aarons still managing an impressive WhoScored rating of 6.83/10 for his performance.
This brings us to today. 12 months on from Aarons making his debut as an 18-year-old at Portman Road after Norwich had won one of their opening five Championship matches, the club are now preparing for their first home game in the Premier League for over three years – with Aarons being one of the club’s key players.
