Finland’s all-time top scorer still has a good chance to play in Europe’s top league, writes Anssi Karjalainen.
Teemu Puki has a chance for one more top contract. Jussi Eskola
The expected news broke on Wednesday.
Teemu Puk’s and Norwich City’s soon-to-be five-year partnership will end next summer.
It is a completely correct solution from Puki and his background troops.
The news came closer week by week. The further Norwich’s promotion dreams to the Premier League have run away, the more likely Puki’s departure has seemed. Huuhkajie’s goalkeeper told Iltalehte during the international break in March that a transfer was not yet in sight in January. It spoke of the fact that he wanted to watch a possible promotion to the Premier League in the “Canaries” until the end.
Norwich, who played a weak season compared to expectations, is seventh in the Championship, i.e. the first team to miss out on the promotion qualifiers. There is a difference of four points to Blackburn, which is higher in the position.
The crowd breathing down your neck is so even that even one loss shakes things up appreciably. Recent observations have shown that Norwich will probably play in the second highest league level in England next season as well.
Norwich would certainly have liked to keep the Finn in their ranks for next season – whatever the league level.
Puki’s team made a smart decision when the final decision was made public now. Local media now gives Finns the peace to focus on their future. At the same time, the decision was a message to other clubs: a goal scorer who has shown his skills is about to be released.
As the article based on statistics in March shows, Pukki has not flopped in the Championship this season. The numbers speak for themselves: He continues to deliver the ball to the net when the space comes. He started the European Championship qualifying campaign with two assists.
Number 22 will be remembered in Norwich for a long time to come. PDO
Finland’s all-time top scorer still has a good chance to play in Europe’s top league – even in the Premier League.
During the transfer windows, Pukki has been rumored to, among other things, join the Spanish La Liga. Even in the Premier League, there are clubs that would gladly take a clinical goalscorer into their ranks. The German Bundesliga, which offers transitions and large spaces on the green, wouldn’t be the craziest option either.
A change took place in Bröndby of the Danish league, which turned the Finn’s career into a completely new position. Puki eventually became a tough athlete. The decision and work made then bear fruit even at the age of 33. The rook leaves the opponent’s bottom line still quickly. There have been minor injuries from time to time, but he has not lost an entire season to bad injuries.
Without the step towards professionalism taken in Bröndby, Pukki would never have risen to the level it has seen.
Norwich made the best signing in their club history when they picked up the Finnish goalscorer of the Danish league on a free transfer in 2018. With his authenticity and pursuit of goals, he melted the hearts of the eastern English city.
In less than five years, he has scored 88 goals for the Canaries and has become the fourth best scorer in the club’s history. Twice the team qualified for the Premier League under Puki’s leadership.
A Finnish player becoming a legend of a traditional club is a significant achievement.
As Pukki himself said in the club’s press release, now is the time to take on a new challenge, because there is still a really good chance.
Teemu Puki became Norwich’s favorite and a club legend. PDO