- Mattsson continues to shine in midfield after his third goal of the season.
- Norwich will not be regretting their decision to cash in on Nunez last summer.
- What Premier League teams are looking for in their central midfielders.
Norwich City’s sporting director Ben Knapper faced unprecedented levels of criticism last summer when he sanctioned what was, possibly, the most surprising transfer in the club’s history.
Anarchy erupted on X when well-respected reporter John Percy reported that Ipswich were set to sign Marcelino Nunez for a fee of up to £10m.
The Chile international only had 12 months left on his contract and Knapper felt that the money was too good to turn down, despite it being a move that, ultimately, strengthened Norwich’s arch-rivals.
How Marcelino Nunez has performed this season
It is no surprise to any Yellows supporter that Nunez has been an impressive performer when fit and available for the Suffolk side.
He has scored three goals and provided eight assists in 31 appearances in the Championship, offering excellent technical qualities as a number ten or as a deep-lying playmaker.
An issue throughout his Norwich career in the second tier, though, was his lack of availability and his lack of physicality at times.
Nunez has lost 56% of his ground duels and 79% of his aerial duels in the league for Ipswich, and has only averaged 1.4 tackles and interceptions per match.
The Chilean midfielder has also had to have his fitness managed at times by Kieran McKenna, with 20 starts out of his 29 league outings.
Now, the part of Percy’s post on X that initially went under the radar was that Pelle Mattsson had agreed to join Norwich from Silkeborg as Nunez’s replacement.
Eight months on from those two deals, it looks like Norwich are going to end up being the real winners of that trade.
What Premier League teams look for in midfield
Ipswich may well go on to earn promotion to the Premier League, mainly due to the quality that they already had in their squad, with the likes of Jack Clarke and Jaden Philogene, but Mattsson has proven himself to be a better midfielder than Nunez.
The aim of every club in the Championship is to establish themselves as regulars in the Premier League, and the Dane is far more likely to help a team to do that than Nunez is.
Every team in the top-flight has a team full of physical and technical monsters who can deal with the intensity and quality of the division.
As aforementioned, Nunez struggles with the physicality of the Championship at times, which suggests that the Premier League would be a step too far for him.
Think back to how Moritz Leitner and Tom Trybull, two outstanding Championship performers with similar physiques to Nunez, failed to deliver in the top-flight.
Mattsson, however, is the kind of central midfielder you see lining up for most teams in the top division, because he has a great engine, brilliant timing in his defensive actions, and outstanding physicality, whilst also being excellent in possession.
How Norwich won the Nunez transfer
Norwich will be the long-term winners of the move that saw Nunez join Ipswich and Mattsson arrive at Carrow Road because the latter is more likely to become a star in the top-flight.
The Danish midfielder has shown off his technical quality in recent games, scoring in three successive matches, but it is his work off the ball that catches the eye the most.
Norwich have not had too many midfielders over the years who could score goals, cover ground, make tackles, play killer passes, and dominate in duels. Usually, players excel in a few areas and struggle in others.
Mattsson, though, excels in every single area that you would want a central midfielder to excel in, as evidenced by his form for the Canaries this season.
| 25/26 Championship | Pelle Mattsson |
| Matches Played | 28 |
| Minutes Played | 2,273 |
| Total Tackles | 61 |
| Interceptions | 34 |
| Ground Duel Success Rate | 57.4% (187 won) |
| Aerial Duel Success Rate | 60.2% (62 won) |
| Ball Recoveries | 131 |
| Blocked Shots | 5 |
| Yellow Cards | 9 |
The 24-year-old maestro has won the majority of his duels on the ground and in the air, showing that opposition midfielders rarely get the better of him in physical tussles, and that is what Premier League teams look for.
Unlike Nunez, Mattsson has attributes that look like they would be perfectly suited to playing in the Premier League, and he will, hopefully, go on to prove that during his time at Carrow Road.
If the Canaries get to the Premier League under Clement and the Dane plays a starring role, supporters may finally forgive Knapper for doing the unthinkable.
