Finally, the most dramatic and drawn-out transfer saga since Stuart Webber’s arrival at Norwich City is over.
With minutes left of the January transfer window, Bournemouth confirmed the loan signing of Todd Cantwell from the Canaries, while City confirmed that the Cherries retain an option to make the deal permanent this summer.
That Cantwell’s departure was met mostly with relief by Norwich fans speaks to how badly wrong things have gone for one of the most talented players produced by the famed Colney academy. An exit had been on the cards for months, after a brief revival in hopes for the 23-year-old came upon Dean Smith’s arrival.
Those hopes were swiftly dashed when the under-21 international stormed straight down the Carrow Road tunnel after an underwhelming performance against Aston Villa ended in 61st-minute substitution. That fateful evening was typical of the attitude-punctuated final few months Cantwell spent in NR1, after some dazzling performances had lit up hopes for another breakthrough season.
That’s what’s so jarring about this case for City fans; that this was the moment for one of their own to draw the sword from the stone. Emi Buendia had been sold and there was a gaping creative hole to be filled, with Cantwell finishing the 2020/21 campaign strongly.
In the same way that the Canaries’ number 14 had burst onto the scene at Anfield in 2019, there was a genuine feeling that he may well do the same in 2021, but that never materialised. Instead, when Farke needed the fearless attacker that Cantwell was two years ago, he got an empty reproduction of that player.
On and off the pitch the Englishman struggled, unimpressive once crossing the white line and inspiration for conjecture beforehand and afterwards. There were more cryptic social media posts than strong performances and more surprise knocks in training than competitive goals scored.
This is why the Norwich supporters seemed to breathe a collective sigh of relief at 10:45 last night, but there’s no doubting the status of this story as a sad one.
It feels so long ago now that Cantwell scored the most impressive goal in Norwich’s famous 3-2 win over Manchester City in 2019, a match he labelled “the best Norwich performance I’ve been involved in”. It seems almost like a different player casually curled home to give City the lead against Arsenal and ran rings around various Premier League defences with youthfully exuberant ball skills.
This is the same man that fans were proud to declare had grown up in their county, and was local to their football club. He signed at 10 and shone for academy teams throughout the youth setup. It’s odd to consider now, but Cantwell was at one time thought by many to be the club’s best player.
Only ten months ago he said on the club’s official podcast: “I don’t think you’ll have someone that has as much of a connection with Norwich as I do. If I wasn’t a footballer, I’d be at Carrow Road watching Norwich.”
Even in purely financial terms, Cantwell was linked with a £30million move away this summer, with the likes of Aston Villa interested and the possibility of investing that money into Premier League reinforcements very real.
How quickly that quality, connection and value has diminished is nothing short of alarming.
Exactly what’s gone on behind the scenes will likely never be fully revealed, but it’s clear that the rot has been worsening for some time, and that there is a problem that both Farke and Smith couldn’t get past.
The irony of Cantwell now signing for a club against whom he was dropped in September 2020 for being distracted by transfer rumours will not be lost on eagle-eyed Norwich fans. The midfielder eventually came back into the fold that time, but after a season full of disruption, frustration and drama, things had gone beyond the point of no return.
Quite what City’s once-star man could have achieved in yellow and green we’ll likely never know, and that’s the real tragedy in this situation, for Norwich City, for the club’s fans, and also, for Todd Cantwell.
Great article Samuel and a sorry end to one who showed so much potential for the game only 2 seasons ago, culminating in him scoring against Citeh.
As you say, only one person knows the truth behind what has been the catalyst for his demise and that’s something we will never know.
I really hoped that this season would be his chance to show he could plug some of the gap left by the sale of Buendia, but that hope has very sadly failed to materialise and we now have a player who might be sold for £10M, who only a year ago was valued at more than double that!!
I’m sure I’m not alone in hoping that he can rekindle his appetite for the game and help the Cherries in their push for promotion.
The $64,000 question – can he rediscover his love of the game and become the player he has the talent to become, or will he fade away as Jack Rodwell did a few seasons ago.
Sad indeed, something went terribly wrong behind the scenes, something we may never know. I have personal reasons for not being that fond of him as a person. As a player he pulled on the shirt and all that is forgotten.
Why pick Bournemouth when other higher placed clubs said to have been interested, how much of that was bully again we will probably never know. So something was wrong behind the scenes, making him pick a club in a lower division, how be it close to promotion but no way a foregone conclusion.
Cannot say I am disappointed to see him gone, he really displayed no respect or loyalty to the club that gave him the platform to showcase his talents. He could have signed a contract to aid the club to recoup some of the money they have invested in him.
Farewell, I shall not be shedding any tears
Not sad at all a bad apple 🍏 now he can be someone else’s problem .
Was considered by some to be our best player in the opening game v Liverpool. After two more games he was inexplicably dropped and hardly played again. Dean Smith said he was lacking in confidence and this is understandable after his treatment.
After 14 years at the club and refusing big moves when younger,he deserved better than being set apart from his team mates. Putting an unreasonable price tag on him didn’t help either. With so few minutes playing this season I don’t think that the club has been as patient as it has with some of the newcomers.
All the best to Todd,one of the most skilful players that the club has produced,very sad that it ends like this.
lets be honest Bill we are not informed of what goes on behind the scenes, we only know what is allowed to be written. I remember Farke saying he (cantwell) had not completed one full week of training
(quote “Farke said: “Sadly I have to say with Todd the last couple of months, I can’t remember one full training week when he was available for the full week. He has missed too many sessions for personal reasons, or problems “(/quote) 12th January
That shows why he was not included. so I do not think any of us mere mortals can make statements because we simply do not know what is what behind the doors of of Carrow or Colnet
Exactly, we don’t know what happened. Just like we can’t say that after 14 years, he showed no loyalty or he was a “bad egg” But this does not surprise me because he got criticised when he was playing well. From what I do know the treatment seems harsh.
I can only speak from what we personally saw and experienced, a lot I cannot nor want to go into on a public space. As a player he had very good, good,bad and insible moments like many players. He did show some times when the dummy got spat out. I am not shedding any tears over this departure nor would I any other player who clearly doesn’t want to play for my team. and that includes a certain Argentinian.
I said a lot about Todd yesterday Samuel, so I won’t repeat myself.
I wonder what really has happened for Cantwell to say if he wasn’t playing for Norwich, a club that he says he loves so much, he would be among the massed ranks cheering the team on.
I cannot totally believe that in truth. If I was blessed with his ability when I was 23 I would be busting a gut for the team and the club whatever I thought of the manager, Director of football or owner.
I know it is also his job and that he has to maximise his earning potential over the next ten years or so but he has definitely gone totally the wrong way about it.
Ben Godfrey and Jamal Lewis went with the best wishes of us fans, they didn’t down tools like Todd.
Look at Max Aarons, he gives 100% every game even with interest from clubs that could turn any youngsters head. He too will go with the fans blessing as a Canary Legend.
The fact that no EPL club made a bid for Todd must register with him that he is being badly advised. He is not yet a top six club player.
History is littered with many ex Norwich players who thought that they were bigger than the club, and in most cases it ended badly for those lads. One obvious example being Alex Pritchard.
The fact he could go for a paltry £11 million is a barometer to just how far his stock has fallen. But had he kicked on, made more effort especially in training he could well have gone on to much bigger things and thus earning more for himself in terms of wages.
But we are were we are and it is definitely in the interests of both club and player to part ways.
“He is not yet a top six club player.”
Depends which division you’re referring to….
He finally left the City with the wind moaning through the rafters on a cold and miserable winter‘s night, a fallen hero, no well wishes to cheer him on his way. Should he reappear in opposition there will be no welcome songs no proud acknowledgment of skilful play. It could have been so different, I wish him no ill but I’ll not remember him kindly.
One of the reasons it’s “sad” is summed up by this:
“Cantwell was linked with a £30million move away this summer, with the likes of Aston Villa interested and the possibility of investing that money into Premier League reinforcements very real.”
It was never even remotely “real”.
So many Canaries fans have wanted to believe this sort of thing ever since he made his debut at Chelsea (the game where winger Tim Klose crossed for centre-forward Jamal Lewis to equalise).
But can it seriously be true that Dean Smith, already paying £20m for Emi ever had any thoughts of paying the same or more for Todd? Can it seriously be true that Dean Smith’s research team at Villa hadn’t uncovered Todd’s weaknesses and become aware of his seemingly inflated opinion of himself BEFORE he became our manager? If so it must be a shock to discover he can only get a third of that supposed price for him now.
We saw all of this 20 years ago with Darel Russell.
http://www.ex-canaries.co.uk/players/russell.htm
So many rumours, so many links. Not one of them came to anything. When he eventually left we were promoted the following season. When he left Stoke to come back, they were promoted the following season. When he left us again, guess what happened the following season…
They are obviously different kinds of player and knowing how underwhelming Russell’s career turned out to be, of course everyone will say “no comparison, Todd’s a much better player”. Yet when Darel was Todd’s age we’d have expected him to go on to much better things. It didn’t happen.
Bournemouth apparently have an option to buy for £11m. I wonder how serious they are about that? They are borrowing a player who has form in a leading Championship side at the business end of the season. I just wonder if they don’t actually have any intention of taking up the option whatever happens. If they get promoted, they’ll want better. If they don’t, and assuming we are their rivals next season, will they want to fill our coffers?
Hi Keith
I enjoyed reading your supplied link which reminded me of stuff I’d long forgotten.
We’ve had a few *enfants terrible* over the years of course. Bellers, Chris Llewellyn and even Keith O’Neill to an extent although much of his petulance was due to injuries. Chris Martin too. All with different strengths and weaknesses of course but not the easiest for the rest of the squad to train alongside I would imagine.
Personally I won’t miss Todd Cantwell; other views might be different.
With cantwells departure webber is fast running out of crown jewels to hawk off in order to feed the self funding monster.
According to 442 there was interest from two EPL clubs but the club refused to let him go to a rival. Given that, it’s a good move for him. Whether we bank the £11m or whether he comes back for a final year we don’t know yet – clearly if he doesn’t buck his ideas up Bournemouth won’t pay for him – we then have to decide whether to exercise the option or whether to just cut him loose.
Either way, he’s given us 13 years as a Norwich City footballer. I get that he’s been well rewarded but surely he deserves a little more respect than he’s getting. He’s not been a mercenary. Yes, he refused to sign a ,long term contract (if one was actually ever offered) but there’s no evidence whatsoever that he has an “attitude” problem – if he has, you’d think we might have discovered that a bit earlier.
Maybe it’s just that he hasn’t developed as a footballer quite as much as we all hoped he would. Maybe he’s just as disappointed as we are that hasn’t happened.
Until that Anfield game (where his selection was a huge surprise) no one really thought of him as a first team player. His elevation into a £30 to £40m player was always ludicrous on the basis of a handful (yes, really only a few games) of decent (not even outstanding) performances. Last season he was OK as a support to others, but never dominated a game like Buendia. Maybe he was never really quite as good as we all thought he was? It isn’t his fault that he looks like a good footballer.
(And while we’re on that point, it seems that Lewis and Godfrey perhaps weren’t as good as we thought they were either – does that mean we are the problem?)
Finally, to emphasise the point, anyone actually know what his best position is? Like everyone else I really wanted him to step up this season and be our matchwinner – that simply didn’t happen, for whatever reason. On that basis, if we end up banking that £11m I’ll be happy because it will mean he’s turned it around.
I can’t see that anyone would have paid 30mill for him he can’t head the ball or take a free kick lucky to get 11mill with his limitations and attitude good riddance
Hi Samuel
A great read and many good comments in response.
I did read that the delayed announcement was over the option to buy ascites wanted it as a must buy which ever league they finished in for a set fee and a sell on Clause which seems to be part and parcel of all deals these days.
Was it all about money we will never know but downing tools isn’t the best way to go in any industry and his parents and agents should have advised him better than they have done, now down on the South Coast he will gave little if any support from his family if things go wrong so no sympathy from me.
He love for city that he declared followed a previous article were he said his family are all Arsenal supporters and his dream was to play for them, his earning at city per week is what most people of his age earn in a year and yes it is only a short career and most of those would have put more effort it to making a greater success of their city career and let the future take care of it’s self as other clubs would have come calling
Not good enough for the EPL wouldn’t be surprised to see him go abroad. Can’t see where he fits in at Bournemouth but time will tell.
Overall T C did well for City but always lightweight, I hope he will be happier now and wish him well for the future.
I’m going to keep this brief – There has been too much written about Todd Cantwell.
Master of his own downfall and deserves no sympathy.
Move on.
Egotistical to say the least. Like many young player too much too soon, and think they are far better than they actually are.
Won’t miss his dyed blond hair and Alice band one bit.
The Man City goal and the penalty against Tottenham are enough for me to be disappointed that it hasn’t worked out.
There’s a player in there, I wish him the best of luck.
where’s the creativity coming from know then all our midfielders are holding who’s the attacking one then? all these negative comments about the lad supporters are not local Norfolk people rupp dowell Zimmerman plus others they are bornmouth standard cantwell only real footballing player at the club very disgusted
Hasn’t shown any footballing talent for a long time just dressing room unrest 😄