Nottingham Forest captain Henri Lansbury moved to ambitious Aston Villa in January despite interest from Norwich City.
Aston Villa may have the budget, the ambitious owner, the promotion-specialist manager and, according to Sky Bet, are 7/1 favourites to lift the Championship title next season. However, the thinking mans’ 2017/18 predictions could heavily revolve around another under-performing Championship giant – Norwich City.
After all, while doubts persist over Steve Bruce’s ability to instil a winning mentality at Villa Park despite spending huge sums on distinctly second tier players, The Canaries are quietly putting plans in place for a successful future.
New director of football Stuart Webber arrived from Huddersfield Town with a reputation for being something of a master in the transfer market. Meanwhile, the recent release of seven first-team players shows Norwich are serious about an extensive squad rebuild.
Therefore, if the prospect of Premier League football was a major factor as Henri Lansbury left Nottingham Forest in January, you wonder whether he could have pinned all his hopes on the wrong horse.
Wrong turning?
The Sun reported that Lansbury was courted by both Norwich and Villa in the mid-season window before eventually choosing the Midlands over East Anglia.
“As soon as I knew Aston Villa were interested, I wanted to come here,” he told the club’s official website.
Lansbury was far from the only Championship star to move to Aston Villa over the course of the season, with Conor Hourihane, Jonathan Kodjia, Scott Hogan and Ross McCormack also arriving for big fees.
So far, however, Villa have appeared more a group of talented individuals than a coherent team; second-rate Galacticos if you will. And disappointing recent performances suggest Bruce has plenty to do to make them more than the sum of their parts.
And if Webber can replicate his Huddersfield influence at Norwich, Villa may not be favourites for the title for long.
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