Todd Cantwell sees list of potential summer suitors rise

Norwich City’s rapidly developing midfielder Todd Cantwell appears to have caught the attention of another Premier League club following yet another superb individual display for the Canaries. Cantwell, a homegrown talent from City’s academy, inspired Norwich to defeat Tottenham in their own backyard and reach the quarter finals of the FA Cup. He was a thorn in the side of the Spurs’ backline all evening and his cool, calm penalty was tucked into the top right-hand corner with aplomb in the penalty shoot-out decider.

Spurs undoubtedly have previous for snapping up promising English talent in recent seasons, having snared Fulham’s attack-minded full back Ryan Sessegnon and Leeds midfielder Jack Clarke in the last year or so. However, the 22-year-old is thought to be a boyhood Arsenal fan and demonstrated his allegiances to the Spurs fans by shushing the crowd after bagging his penalty in the shoot-out.

Liverpool were thought to be leading the chase last month

Back in February, it looked like runaway Premier League leaders Liverpool were in pole position to secure Cantwell’s signature. He impressed heavily against the Anfield club and Reds boss Jurgen Klopp is said to have been very impressive with his goal ratio from midfield in a team that’s been rooted to the foot of the Premier League table for several months now. Norwich only lost narrowly 1-0 to Liverpool at Carrow Road in February and much of that was due to their midfield’s bold display, with Cantwell at the heart of everything positive about the Canaries’ performance.

Cantwell recently said in an interview that he believes he has the right level of “self-belief and confidence” to go on and play at the highest level. Klopp would surely consider Cantwell to be a more than able deputy for the likes of Wijnaldum and Fabinho, perhaps even replacing the squad rotation role of someone like Adam Lallana who could move on in search of regular first team football.

Cantwell has made a huge but unlikely impact on the Canaries’ team

At the start of the 2019/20 Premier League campaign, you would have got very few Norwich City supporters claiming that Todd Cantwell would be one of their most important players. During last year’s Championship-winning season, the Canaries’ midfield was largely built around Argentine playmaker Emi Buendia, who scored and created plenty of goals for City last term. Buendia’s partner in crime last season was usually Moritz Leitner or Marco Stiepermann. However, neither of these have managed to step up to the Premier League plate, opening the door to Cantwell to shine.

For some time now, leading bookmakers such as Paddy Power, who are dishing out risk-free wagers to punters at present, have priced Norwich as the team most likely to finish with the league’s wooden spoon. That’s no slight on Cantwell’s performances, however. City’s inability to keep clean sheets has largely been their undoing, while star striker Teemu Pukki has become somewhat goal-shy in the second half of the campaign following a blistering start to the season. Averaging almost a goal every four games in your first top-flight season is no mean feat and Cantwell certainly looks like one of a handful of Norwich players destined to move up the career ladder this summer.

A good example of how overseas loans can aid English youngsters

Back in January 2018, Cantwell was still very much on the periphery of the Norwich squad. Boss, Daniel Farke opted to send him out on-loan to Dutch second tier side, Fortuna Sittard. Eyebrows were raised in Norfolk at the decision to send him overseas, but many at Carrow Road would now say that his 10-game spell in the Eerste Divisie was probably the making of him as a player and a person.

Cantwell ended up tasting promotion in senior football for the first time at Fortuna, helping his temporary employers to promotion to the Dutch first tier following a 16-year absence from the Eredivisie. He was involved in the club’s post-season celebrations, including their open-top bus tour throughout the city.

Cantwell’s return to Norwich that summer was something of a perfect storm, what with Wes Hoolahan and Alex Pritchard both departing Carrow Road at the end of the 2017/18 campaign. Having scored and created goals in Holland, 2018/19 was the right time to bed him into the first-team fold at Norwich and back-to-back promotions have certainly given him the confidence to shine on the Premier League stage.

Norwich likely to need to sell to survive if relegation fears are realised

Of course, the dream scenario for most Norwich City supporters will be Premier League survival and the chance to retain their young talent like Cantwell and full backs Max Aarons and Jamal Lewis. Whether that’s something of a pipe dream remains to be seen. They still sit six points adrift of safety – effectively seven due to goal difference – with only nine games remaining. Their run-in isn’t hugely kind to them either, with games against Arsenal, Everton, Chelsea and Man City still on the horizon. They travel to the Etihad on the final day of the campaign, which is one of the worst places to be should they need a last-gasp result to go for them.

Much of Norwich’s issues has been their inability to compete financially with the rest of the division. Unlike Sheffield United and Aston Villa, who gained promotion with Norwich last term and have speculated to accumulate, the Canaries have cut their cloth accordingly and made loan and permanent signings sparingly. The club isn’t funded by a major benefactor, with the sport now far too rich for majority shareholder, Delia Smith to compete.

Therefore, it seems almost certain that the City faithful will have to bid farewell to the likes of Cantwell, Aarons and Lewis if they want to make the most of their Premier League parachute payments and attempt to bounce back from the Championship at the first attempt. It’s clear that the vultures are circling Norfolk and are ready and waiting to pounce.