EPL: 5 Players Norwich City Missed Out on This Summer

Paul Lambert has announced that his transfer business is finished for now, but has confirmed that he is always on the lookout for players who can improve the squad. One suspects, though, that no new players will be arriving at Carrow Road until January at the earliest.

The Norwich City manager has had to take a slightly different approach to business in the transfer market this season in comparison to the last two seasons. Being in the Premier League carries with it restrictions. First of all, loan deals cannot be signed outside the transfer window, and Premier League clubs can only have two loan deals from fellow Premier League teams.

Norwich City now have to select a 25-man squad. They simply can't afford to have loads of excess players.

When the transfer window closes on August 31st, Norwich City would only be able to recruit players who are available on the free-transfer list. Even then they would need space in their 25-man squad to acquire them.

With all that in mind, Lambert has put his squad together in double quick time.

I have put together a slide show of five players Norwich might have signed this summer. Enjoy! 

Fraser Forster, Newcastle United

Fraser Forster was linked with a permanent move to Norwich City earlier in the summer, but it was a move that never materialized. Forster will have to wait and see if he is in Newcastle United's plans for the new season. Forster has certainly gained some significant experience in the last two seasons on loan at Celtic and Norwich and will now feel he is ready to make the step up to the Newcastle first team.

If it isn't going to happen for Forster at Newcastle, it might be in the player's best interest to move on. For now at least, the talented young goalkeeper remains a Newcastle United player and will probably have another loan spell away from the club.

Paul Lambert remains a keen admirer of Forster. You would think he would be in the queue to sign him, should Newcastle decide to sell. However, Norwich have a trio of quality young goalkeepers in the shape of John Ruddy, Declan Rudd and Jed Steer, so it's certainly a case of watch this space. 

Henri Lansbury, Arsenal

Henri Lansbury spent last season on loan to Norwich, so it's no real surprise to see him linked with a return to the club. There have been rumors circulating over the last few days that Arsenal are ready to cash in on England U21 midfielder. There were also suggestions recently that Norwich had a £1.5 million bid turned down for the midfielder.

It still seems unlikely that the player will sign with Norwich, but it will be interesting to see if Arsenal do decide sell in the current transfer window.

Lansbury will feel after two successful loan spells with Norwich and Watford that he is ready to step up and play regular Premier League football. However, towards the end of last season Lansbury found himself on the bench for Norwich. He was not the crucial component in the Norwich City midfield that some may have expected, but he still played an important role in Norwich City's promotion and would be welcomed back with opened arms.

Robert Snodgrass, Leeds United

Norwich City's courtship of Robert Snodgrass proved to be one of the most entertaining summer transfer battles to date.

If the media is to be believed, Norwich City submitted an offer of £3.5 million, and that offer was turned down. Leeds first stated they wanted £5 million, and then upped that to £8 million. Norwich made the sensible decision to walk away. Snodgrass would have made a useful addition to the squad—but not at that price.

Norwich have since signed Huddersfield's Anthony Pilkington and Brighton's Elliott Bennett to fulfill there winger needs. I don't expect to see Snodgrass turn up at Carrow Road anytime soon. But it will be interesting to see if he does move on from Leeds and what the transfer fee will be.   

Danny Graham/Shane Long, Watford/Reading

These two players were never really linked with Norwich, but they are players I wish they had signed, nevertheless. Both players proved to be top-quality Championship strikers alongside Norwich's Grant Holt. Danny Graham finished as the leading goalscorer in the Championship with a tally of 24 goals. Shane Long finished level with Holt with 21 goals.

Graham will be playing for Swansea in the Premier League next season, and at £3.5 million may prove to have been a bargain if he scores goals in the Premier League.

If Long doesn't end up playing Premier League football next season, teams in the top flight may have missed a trick. Hopefully, Norwich will score plenty of goals in the coming season, and they won't live to regret the decision to not sign Long or Graham. On the face of it, the quartet of strikers in the shape of Holt, James Vaughan, Simeon Jackson and Steve Morison should score plenty of Premier League goals between them.  

Craig Mackail-Smith, Now at Brighton

Norwich City made enquiries for then-Peterborough striker Craig Mackail-Smith towards the end of last season. The proposal was to first loan the player and then confirm a transfer worth in the region of £2.5 million to £3 million in the summer. However, Peterborough decided to hold on to their striker at that time.

Now, according to Peterborough, Norwich made another bid for Mackail-Smith in the summer. The player turned down the move to join Brighton instead. To be honest, I find it a little bit hard to believe Mackail-Smith would turn down a move to the Premier League. As far as Norwich is concerned, no such bid occurred in the summer. This seems to be a classic case of Peterborough creating the impression Mackail-Smith was more in demand than he really was.

From a personal point of view, I feel it would big a big step up for Mackail-Smith and a massive gamble to sign him. Norwich City may have made the right decision when they walked away from this transfer.