Norwich City and Wigan Athletic’s seven-figure transfer agreement still baffles | OneFootball

Yanic Wildschut will go down as one of the most confusing pieces of business in Norwich City history.

There's been many a high fee January transfer that hasn't worked out for Norwich City, perhaps none more so than Yanic Wildschut.

Wildschut joined the Canaries halfway through Alex Neil's final season for a fee of around £7 million with add-ons. At the time, it felt like an ambitious signing given his high price-tag and experience in English football.

There was plenty of hype around him too. He was a key figure in Wigan Athletic's League One promotion charge the season before, and he carried all the excitement of a January deadline day signing.

What came next made it a baffling piece of business all round, not that it was ever really his fault.

Yanic Wildschut was a Wigan fan favourite

The Dutchman turned Suriname international made his first steps into English football with Middlesbrough in September 2014. He'd score just two goals in 11 Championship appearances for Boro that season, one of which would help his side to a 4-0 victory over his future side Norwich.

But Boro was never a good fit for Wildschut. He was sent on loan to League One's Wigan Athletic the following season to get game time, initially on a three-month loan spell. It took him just three days to win the hearts of the Wigan faithful, scoring a screamer against Crewe in the EFL Trophy.

Then boss Gary Caldwell heaped praise on his new man, saying "he’s been devastating every game he’s played," just over a week after he joined.

It was a no-brainer, then, that in January Wigan would seek to bring him in permanently for a reported fee of £1 million. He helped his side win promotion to the Championship, and was named in League One's PFA Team of the Year.

Wildschut wanted a move to Norwich

He played half a season in the Championship, and Wigan fought hard to bat off any interest in Wildschut come January. Eventually, he'd hand in a transfer request marking the start of a bitter end to his Wigan days.

He said: "The moment Norwich were interested, I felt good about it. After speaking to the manager, it was an easy decision for me."

But he'd also made a comment about "empty stadiums", speaking about his previous club in his first interview with the Canaries. It did not go down well. He wrote an open letter apologising to Latics fans, saying the comment was taken out of context, but the damage was done.

Upon joining Norwich, then manager Alex Neil said: "He's the type of lad that, on his day, he can create absolute havoc." Unfortunately, his day rarely came.

His move to Norwich came at a time when they were in a period of change. Former Chief Executive David McNally had resigned the summer before, leaving an air of uncertainty around the club. Once Alex Neil was sacked less than two months after Wildschut joined, it began a slow, painful move away from Carrow Road.

When Stuart Webber and Daniel Farke arrived, he was initially able to impress in pre-season, making 16 league appearances and scoring a memorable winner against Sheffield United.

But it soon became clear he was not part of the plan for the club going forward; his physicality and directness not in line with the slick, fluid football wanted by the new Norwich chiefs. Thus began two loan spells that would lead to his eventual exit from the club all together when the club decided to let his contract run out.

The Wildschut-Norwich saga undoubtedly hampered his career prospects. He struggled for consistently good performances with a high price tag hanging over his head. He'd later tell the Eastern Daily Press: "I never had the feeling it affected me. But when I look at it back now as I grow older and more experienced, maybe I subconsciously thought about it a lot."

That, coupled with some off-the-pitch family struggles, meant he was never able to fulfill his potential at Carrow Road. He said: "I couldn’t play how I wanted because things were holding me back."

Perhaps a late parting gift to Norwich fans came in the form of a goal against Ipswich Town playing for Oxford United. It earned him some goodwill in Norfolk when he said: "It's nice to score against Ipswich."

Unlike Wigan, his exit from Norwich wasn't marred by a feeling of bad-blood, more that he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Putting their history aside, Wildschut is now linked up with his former boss Caldwell at Exeter City without that £7m price-tag he had at Norwich hanging around his neck.