Kyle Lafferty has endured a miserable couple of years with Norwich but could finally be handed an escape route after Nelson Oliveira arrived in East Anglia.
Northern Ireland talisman Kyle Lafferty could end his Norwich City nightmare in the coming days after the Canaries completed the signing of Benfica striker Nelson Oliveira.
Oliveira, a former Portuguese prodigy (below) with 16 caps to his name, signed a four-year deal at Carrow Road on Tuesday and will be expected to fire Norwich back to the Premier League after their relegation last season.
And Canaries manager Alex Neil believes that the 25-year-old, who was likened to Eric Cantona and Zlatan Ibrahimovic when coming through the ranks at Benfica, represents an impressive coup for the East Anglian side.
“It’s a great signing for us because he’s a very good player technically,” the former Hamilton boss said, as reported by the Daily Star.
“He’ll be a creator of goals as well as a scorer of them. Having been at Benfica, there’s no questioning his quality and he’s played with some top players.”
Moreover, there should be few concerns about Oliveira’s ability to adapt to the rough and tumble of the Championship after he scored nine goals in 28 appearances on loan at Nottingham Forest last season (below).
Oliveira’s arrival could also help speed up the departure of Kyle Lafferty, who has featured just once last season for Norwich and spent the latter part of the campaign on loan at Birmingham City.
According to Wales Online, Cardiff City are desperate to add a striker to their ranks before deadline day after registering no home goals at all this season.
Despite the Welsh club viewing Lafferty’s potential arrival as ‘an outside chance’, Oliveira’s deal could put the wheels in motion.
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