Norwich City Heaven - Nearly signed for Norwich

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It's a well known fact that Norwich spent £27m on new players during the 2013 summer transfer window (the 9th highest in the Premier League) but the figure would have been even higher if the likes of Toby Alderweireld, Ola Toivonen, Fabio Quagliarella and Ricardo Vaz Te had all agreed to join the Canaries. Going further back which players have seemed destined to become Norwich City players but it didn't materialise?

Reading striker Trevor Senior looked set to join Norwich in the summer of 1985 after scoring 68 goals in 2 seasons for the Royals. The Eastern Daily Press claimed that Senior was likely to sign for the Canaries but he opted to stay at Reading and scored 184 goals in 362 league appearances during 2 spells with the club. After failing to land Senior Norwich boss Ken Brown turned his attention to Grimsby striker Kevin Drinkell and snapped him up for a bargain £105,000, a fee fixed after a tribunal which angered Grimsby. Drinkell scored 57 goals in 150 appearances for City.

Many Norwich fans will remember Ian Marshall and his terrible haircut playing for Ipswich but before he joined the Scum he nearly signed for Norwich but failed the medical. It was 1993 and Mike Walker came close to signing the former Everton striker, then at Oldham who could also play in defence. Marshall had scored 50 league goals for the Latics and looked a useful acquisition but it was not to be. Instead he joined Ipswich where he scored 5 goals in his first 5 Premier League matches, a feat which apparently has never been bettered.

Midfielder Steve Buttle started his career at Ipswich but never played a first team game for them. He joined Bournemouth and played 139 league games for them. In 1977 the Norwich born Buttle left England to play in the newly formed NASL (North American Soccer League) for Seattle Sounders and ended up staying in the USA until 1988. In 1981 Buttle rejected an offer from Norwich and opted to stay with Seattle Sounders. A year later Seattle released him! Proof that there is no reward for loyalty.

In November 2000 Ian Moore decided to join Burnley instead of Norwich for £1m. A few months later he scored the winning goal in a 3-2 victory for the Clarets at Carrow Road. Moore, son of Ronnie Moore (the former Rotherham manager) netted 37 times in 192 appearances for Burnley and changed his name to Ian Thomas Moore in July 2009 after marrying Victoria Thomas.

Promising centre-half Terry Wilson played in the 1989 FA Cup Semi-Final for Nottingham Forest against Liverpool and almost signed for the Canaries a few years later. However the Scotsman was plagued by injuries and Norwich boss Mike Walker wasn't prepared to take him on. In 1992 Wilson was forced to retire from the game in his early twenties.

Dean Windass, it could be argued, forced Martin O'Neill to quit as Norwich boss in December 1995. O'Neill walked out on Norwich the day before a 3-2 defeat at Leicester (the club he was about to manage, Mike Walker had apparently been set to be appointed) after his attempts to sign Windass from Hull City were scuppered by Norwich Chairman Robert Chase. Cash stricken Hull wanted £750,000 but Chase was only willing to offer much less. Windass eventually joined Aberdeen for £700,000. Shortly afterwards Chase sold star players Jon Newsome and Ashley Ward for giveaway prices. Where had all the money gone?

Dean Windass, Hull City legend with friend! Photo by Steve.