Norwich City: You may be very surprised where these 3 ex-Canaries stars are playing now | OneFootball

Former Carrow Road performers have turned up at some unlikely venues recently

Norwich City have had some incredible players pass through their doors in recent years.

Names such as Max Aarons, Emiliano Buendia and James Maddison may spring to mind for many Canaries fans, all now plying their trade in the Premier League.

However, not all players take the most obvious next step — ex-Norwich stars can pop up in some surprising places.

Here, Football League World takes a look at three examples of former Canaries now playing at clubs few would have predicted while they were at Carrow Road…

Teemu Pukki - Minnesota United

Plucked from relative obscurity in the Danish first tier with Brondby, Teemu Pukki went on to stamp his name in the Norwich history books.

Consistently hitting double figures as the Canaries bounced between the Championship and Premier League, Pukki will always hold special memories for those at Carrow Road.

When the time came to look for a new club in the summer of 2023, there were no doubt endless clubs queueing up to take the Finnish forward, but, for a player who had operated in Northern and Central Europe for his entire career, few would have predicted his next move would take him Stateside.

But that is precisely what happened, carrying his prolific form across the Atlantic to net 10 goals in just 14 appearances for Minnesota United in the MLS.

Jamal Lewis - Sao Paulo

Jamal Lewis spent time in Norwich’s youth system after moving as a teenager from Luton Town, later making his debut for the senior Canaries side on Boxing Day 2017, at the age of 19.

A strong couple of seasons followed as a key member of Norwich’s squad, and the left-back earned a £15million move to Premier League side Newcastle United.

Although, as mentioned earlier, seeing a player move from Carrow Road to England’s top tier is no shock, Lewis has struggled to establish himself in the Magpies’ starting XI.

That has led to a couple of loan spells and the most recent, to Brazilian side Sao Paulo, is an eye-catching move.

Famed as a club that has brought through names like Kaka, Fernandinho and Casemiro, Lewis is the first British player to turn out for the club.

He already has three appearances under his belt and will hope to continue making history in South America.

Ben Godfrey - Atalanta

Ben Godfrey was another who shocked few when he made the jump into the Premier League with Everton for a fee of £20million in 2020.

He made 78 appearances for Norwich’s senior side, and it was clear that the defender had a lot of talent before he moved to Goodison Park.

What may have been less obvious was his next move: swapping Merseyside for Atalanta in Serie A for a fee believed to be in the region of £10million. Godfrey wasn't short of European offers, with French side Lyon also thought to have tabled a bid.

He joins fellow centre-backs like Chris Smalling and Fikayo Tomori as Englishmen who have swapped home turf for Italy, and he’ll hope it goes just as well as it did for that duo.