Seldom has a Carrow Road departure been met with the level of almost universal love that accompanied the announcement that Max Aarons had completed his move to Bournemouth.
I say almost, because the good folk of Leeds have been wishing all sorts of misfortune on Max but those who haven’t been spurned by him have been pouring good wishes and warmth in his direction.
Of recent times, only the departure of James Maddison to Leicester was met with a similar level of bonhomie, with the common denominator being that both had outgrown our football club – a fact acknowledged by the City faithful.
The only real difference was that Maddison didn’t hang around as long.
Max, bless him, did, through no fault of his own, stay longer than was ideal and reached the point in his Norwich City career where he was no longer progressing. In fact, for two seasons he had stagnated, suggesting that, in truth, the time to depart should have been when his stock was at its highest – in the summer of 2021.
Hindsight and all that.
But Max is a clearly a good egg. Not once has the dummy been spat out. Not once did he try and force a move – not even when European giants reportedly came calling. And not even when he watched his peers depart for Premier League pastures and Premier League contracts.
First to go, in the autumn of 2020, was Jamal Lewis to Newcastle and was soon followed by Ben Godfrey to Everton. Max sat and watched and while he’d have had every reason to question when it was his turn, he did nothing of the sort.
Instead, the head was down, the effort was relentless and he did what he’s done since he made his debut at Portman Road in September 2019 – he worked hard, he listened and gave his all.
He then watched on as Emi Buendia and Todd Cantwell threated to down tools at the start of the 2020-21 season, when both considered themselves deserving of a big move. He was too but caused not a moment’s fuss.
As we now know, eventually those two were placated sufficiently to play big parts in the Championship-winning campaign of 2020-21, but it was only ever an uneasy peace, with both still looking to depart once the title was sewn up.
Emi succeeded in making it to the Premier League that summer, Todd didn’t – albeit 18 months later did make it to the Rangers of Glasgow – but still the opportunity didn’t fall for Max. Still, he did the Max thing. No dummies, no tantrums, no protruding bottom lips.
Despite his tender years, he was the ultimate professional throughout although, in truth, his professionalism and decency may have been contributing factors to the plateau in performance level. He reached the point where his game didn’t improve.
And then Dean Smith came along and strangled the life out of it. He wasn’t alone – as a squad, it’s only now emerging from that particular shadow.
But this summer had to be Max’s time and after lots of toing, froing, negotiating and again – especially on Max’s part – patience, the offers of an acceptable nature started to come in.
In the end, it sounds as though three were on the table, including one from Daniel Farke’s Leeds, where Max was either due for or was having a medical but he was deserving of a Premier League contract. And so we wish farewell to another of the Farke era.
In typical fashion, Max’s parting message oozed class.
And so today at 3:00pm he’ll be wearing red and black stripes. No longer one of us. But he’ll not be forgotten in a hurry.
That right flank won’t be the same without him for some time.
He’ll be remembered for being a good right-back – one who was part of a side that could win the Championship for fun – but even more important than that, he was a thoroughly decent human being.
Go well down south, fella. You’ve more than earned that chance.
A little giggle about Max is that one of mum’s relatives has a granddaughter who went out with Max when he was in the youth squad. Story goes that he was so dedicated to football she found him boring, and dumped Max for a lad with a moped instead 😂
Perhaps he should have pushed for a move. What a great opportunity it would have been for him, instead he found himself a league below Luton, who he started with. We’ve held onto players too long, not done their careers any good and lost out on millions, We’ve lived in the past too much and the end result is always disappointment.
Craig Bellamy wanted to move on at a time when it would be the greatest benefit to the club that developed him, Madison’s transfer did us no harm at all.
Stacey already seems far more productive than Aaron’s was in his last few seasons.. No insult to Max, he should be playing for one of the top clubs in Europe and we shouldn’t be struggling to afford a strong squad. Good luck to him getting his career back on track.
Good luck, Max, and I wish you every success (personally, that is. I’m not wishing that for the Cherries!). A great team player, never looking for personal glory, but giving everything for the best interests of the club.
I hope this move benefits him and the club. I’ll miss him.
Hi Gary
Max has shown true loyalty to the Club and hopefully this move will be good for him and he gets the professional rewards he deserves. Bournemouth should be a good fit.
Sadly I can only see a relegation struggle for Bournemouth, so I hope this time it’s a better end-of-season result for him.
Was it a guaranteed season in the Premier League that turned his head against a fight for promotion that could, with either of the other interested clubs, not happen as we all know being certainties for promotion doesn’t always work out.
Will the snub affect Webber’s chance of the Leeds hot seat? Only time will tell. Now the Bournemouth rumours are doing overtime saying Omobamidele is next on their list – let’s hope with still a 4 year contract we get the value the club places on him.
We were told deals would only happen if it suited City – I’m not sure the Max deal was a fair deal; more like trying to dig ourselves out of a big black hole.
Another of the academy pre Webber’s arrival but he will take the plaudits for selling him and whitewash over that in two years his value has dropped more than a second-hand car.
All the best to Max but Webber – please leave some assets at the club before you leave.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing and retrospectively for Max and the club he should have been sold when he was at his peak – we would have got more for him and he would have got a better deal at a (no disrespect, Bournemouth) bigger club. However had this happened then a vocal group of fans would have been in uproar about the club “selling the crown jewels” and having “no ambition”. Indeed there are still those around who don’t seem to understand how the football world works, both in terms of how much a player is worth being linked in parts to his contract and also that it is not often in the club’s interest to retain a player that wishes to move on.
As regards Max, he has conducted himself impeccably, albeit possibly to his detriment. He will be fondly remembered in Norfolk but now is the right time for both parties.
Thanks Max, you’ve been a wonderful, selfless servant to City and I’ll miss your cultured play.
It’s a shame that towards the end of your time you played in a team and a system that didn’t deserve you.
I hope you go on to have a great career.
There’s a Starman playing on the right……….
Lets not forget the reason he ended up stagnating was that the owners cannot afford the football club and fail to provide the much needed investment it needs both on and off the field.
City Hall of Famer for certain. A credit to himself and NCFC.