Norwich City made Leeds United’s millions with triple swoop - one deal flopped though | OneFootball

Elland Road was a happy hunting ground for Norwich City across four consecutive transfer windows

Sometimes a transfer makes sense for all parties. Perhaps a player does not fit a new manager’s system, or a club moves to cash in on an expiring contract.

One of the worst feelings for a fan is to see a player leave their club and go on to bigger and better things – before being sold for a healthy profit, with the fee their side had received looking like an absolute pittance.

That was a recurring phenomenon for Leeds United fans when Norwich City frequently raided Elland Road to make millions in four transfer deals across four consecutive windows.

Bradley Johnson

Summer 2011 - free transfer

Bradley Johnson worked his way into the EFL after starting in non-league, his performances for Waltham Forest earning himself a return to the professional game following his release as a youngster by Arsenal.

He would climb further up the pyramid when Leeds paid Northampton Town £250,000 for the midfielder in January 2008.

Life at Elland Road during the League One years were not straightforward for anyone, including Johnson, who enjoyed an initial spell in the side before being loaned to divisional rivals Brighton.

However, the midfielder recovered to earn a spot in Simon Grayson’s promotion winning side in 2010, establishing himself as a capable Championship player in his debut season in the second tier.

Johnson’s performances were attracting attention from elsewhere, so Leeds attempted to sign the midfielder to an improved contract.

However, the offer tabled by Ken Bates’ regime was clearly not good enough, despite negotiations stretching into the summer.

Norwich felt that Johnson could play even higher, so when his contract expired at the end of the 2010/11 season, they swooped in to the sign the midfielder.

The Canaries were proved right, with Johnson going on to score six times in 101 Premier League appearances for Norwich.

As Johnson had arrived from Elland Road on a free transfer, the £6milllion they received from Derby County represented pure profit.

For Leeds supporters, it left them cursing Ken Bates’ miserly ways – with their side completely missing out on any transfer fee.

Jonny Howson

Winter 2012 - £2million

Leeds clearly learnt their lesson following the departure of Bradley Johnson, even before they were hit by the hindsight of his sale in 2015.

Despite transfer listing Johnson prior to his contract expiring, Leeds decided to keep the midfielder until they had sourced a proper replacement.

That was amidst interest from Premier League clubs, suggesting Leeds could have recouped a healthy transfer fee for the former Northampton man.

So when they found themselves in a similar situation with homegrown talent Jonny Howson, they decided to act sooner rather than later.

As such, a £2million fee was agreed with Norwich City, giving Howson the Premier League football he was after.

Whilst fans had been disappointed to lose Johnson for nothing, there was even more anguish when a hometown hero departed the club.

Like Johnson, captain Howson made it clear that the contract offers the club had given him were not enough to make up for a lack of Premier League football.

Many supporters agreed with Howson’s opinion that Premier League football would not be forthcoming anytime soon for Leeds – and the midfielder was ultimately right, with the Whites having to wait until 2020 to return to the top flight.

In the meantime Howson proved a valuable servant to Norwich, playing 188 times across the top two tiers.

Not only did Norwich get a decent return from Howson, the midfielder scoring 23 times and providing 20 assists, but they managed to receive triple the fee they had paid in 2012 when he was sold in the summer of 2017.

Leeds clearly regretted selling their captain, attempting to bring Howson home, but the former England under-21 international decided to join divisional rivals Middlesbrough for £6million– where he is still playing to this day, into his 30s.

Robert Snodgrass

Summer 2012 - £3million

Whilst Leeds learnt from their mistake of losing Johnson for nothing, they could not prevent history repeating itself when it came to Howson and teammate Robert Snodgrass.

Once again, the Whites found themselves with a tricky situation on their hands, having allowed another contract to tick down.

Snodgrass, who ironically had been chosen to replace Howson as Leeds captain, was entering the final year of his deal, and there was no indication that he would sign a new contract.

When the Scot made it abundantly clear that he wanted Premier League football in the summer of 2012, there was little Leeds could offer to tempt Snodgrass to stay – despite Neil Warnock’s best efforts.

Norwich returned to their happy hunting ground once more, but this time had to pay slightly more, partly thanks to the fact that Snodgrass had a bit longer on his deal.

The Canaries paid £3million for the Scotland international, who played two seasons for Norwich in the Premier League.

Unlike Johnson and Howson, who remained with the club following relegation in 2014, Snodgrass pushed for a move.

Hull City came calling, paying £6million for Snodgrass – a then club-record, which was later matched by the sales of Howson (2017) and Johnson (2015).

In total, the trio made Norwich City £18million - £13million of which was profit after the fees paid to Leeds were taken into account.

Luciano Becchio

Winter 2013 - Swap deal

Leeds United must have expected a phone call from Norwich during the winter window in 2013, after having done business with the Canaries in the last three windows.

This deal was of quite a different nature, with Luciano Becchio under contract for another year and half prior to submitting a transfer request.

Becchio’s relationship with manager Neil Warnock had fractured, and after the club rejected two bids from unnamed foreign clubs, the Argentine wanted out.

Leeds offered a new deal to their leading goalscorer, but would not budge in negotiations.

The cult hero felt that it was in his best financial interests to depart Leeds; that was despite Bates’ selling the club to Bahraini equity group GFH capital in November 2012.

Norwich came forward with a proposal – to swap Becchio for Steve Morison, with a further £200,000 to sweeten the deal.

Leeds accepted, but after success with three transfers from the Whites, Becchio’s move was a flop.

The striker made just 16 appearances, scoring no goals, before having his contract ripped up in 2015 – with a year remaining on his deal.

The move barely helped Leeds, either, who were lumbered with the equally ineffective Morison as one of their top earners.

Similarly, Morison departed in 2015 to old club Millwall for an undisclosed fee –