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Summer transfer rumours

Discussion in 'Sunderland' started by Washysafc, May 25, 2021.

  1. Southern A

    Southern A Well-Known Member

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    ‘It’s hard. It’s scary. It’s exciting. It’s nerve-racking…’ – Alex Pritchard on his new life as a free agent

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    By Michael Bailey May 22, 2021
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    It was a sharp first touch and an even quicker left-foot shot that snuck inside Lukasz Fabianski’s left-hand post.

    Alex Pritchard’s expression barely flickered from its default setting on the pitch — a mix of a scowl and angst — but inside was a high that topped almost everything else he had experienced before. He celebrated with a knee slide in the John Smith’s Stadium corner where the Huddersfield Town and West Ham supporters were closest.

    “I knew two of my best friends were in the away end,” Pritchard tells The Athletic with a smile. “I spoke to them after the goal and they said, ‘You were getting abuse from the fans, so we kind of joined in’. I was thinking, ‘Yeah, I’d have probably done the same’. I’ve done it before in the away end for West Ham, had a shout at people.

    “That goal was an amazing moment. I didn’t ever visualise me doing that.”

    West Ham are Pritchard’s club. He used to hold a season ticket there with his dad but his time in their academy never matched the enjoyment he experienced with London rivals Tottenham, hence his decision to commit his young football career to north London.

    The news his affections actually lie a few miles east will bring a predictable reaction from those at White Hart Lane but Pritchard knows that. He has plenty of Tottenham-supporting friends already giving him stick for “piping up because we’re sixth… I’ve had nothing to cheer about with West Ham for years, so give me a break!”

    Pritchard is sat with The Athletic in his immaculate home amid fields of yellow and green in the Essex countryside. His parents, sister, and the place where he grew up are only a handful of minutes away. With a welcoming smile and genuine openness, he takes everything in his stride — something he has learned to do well.

    Norwich fans look at Pritchard’s decision to chase Premier League football with Huddersfield in January 2018 and the club’s respective trajectories since, and happily think: “Alex Pritchard, it could have been you.”

    Brighton fans were already singing that at him after the summer of 2016. A traffic jam on the M25 gave Norwich the time to hijack his journey to sign for the south coast club and convince him to join them from Tottenham instead. Norwich finished that season well out of the Championship promotion picture. Brighton went up.

    Now Pritchard has been released by Huddersfield, with the club not activating their option to extend their £11 million signing’s deal into a fourth full season. Former owner Dean Hoyle said in March he “overpaid” for the former England Under-21 forward, who manager David Wagner had so desperately wanted.

    It doesn’t take long in Pritchard’s company to realise he sees the game like a fan and enjoys it the same way.

    Sky Sports News is on in the background. The questions come from him as often as he is asked them. He is immersed in the day’s sports stories and there is nothing he would rather do right now than kick a ball for a club in front of their supporters.

    It’s an uncertain time for Pritchard, who turned 28 earlier this month. He only wanted a break from his situation; not one from the game.

    “I’m OK. It’s a bit tough with the COVID situation and, obviously, I’ve just been released by a club. That’s never easy,” says Pritchard. “The last couple of years have been difficult. I’ve had conversations with people about resetting but it was hard to reset when you were still somewhere where you were thinking about things.

    “I know boys who have been on one-year deals throughout their career and it’s up and down, but I’ve never been in that position. I was at Spurs, then signed a four-year deal at Norwich. Same at Huddersfield (Pritchard’s initial deal was for three and a half years after his January move). Then you get to the end of that contract and it’s like, ‘Oh…’

    “Every year I’d go away on holiday and wouldn’t think about it, because I’d get told to come back whenever pre-season starts. This time, I haven’t got that message. I don’t know where, or when, I’m going.

    “It’s hard. It’s scary. It’s exciting. It’s nerve-racking — because people ask questions and I don’t have answers. I have family members asking me and I don’t know! We’ll see.

    “Huddersfield was massive highs and massive lows. Scoring against West Ham (in November 2018), scoring my first Premier League goal against Bournemouth (in February that year), then looking up and seeing my nan in one of the boxes. That’s a feeling I can’t describe.”

    Premier League relegation is something he finds equally hard to put into words.

    “You get to this point where you don’t know where your next point is going to come from,” says Pritchard. “Mentally, physically, you’re drained — then you’re playing at Manchester United. That’s when you realise, ‘This is tough’. Going back into the Championship you think, ‘Come on, let’s get going again’, but it never really happened. For what reason? I don’t know.”

    It was last summer that Pritchard was told the financial impact of COVID-19 and Huddersfield’s desire to “go in a different direction” would see his contract not being renewed this summer. He still started Carlos Corberan’s first three games as manager before missing a couple of days’ training with a minor injury.

    “I thought I’d done well enough in those first games to return to the side, but I didn’t. Then it went on; you’re not playing, not playing,” recalls Pritchard. “I’d never had that situation where I didn’t play. Conversations about why; they help you understand it and know what you’ve got to do to get back in but I never really had those conversations.

    “I didn’t have the season I wanted but did I really get the chance to show what I was about? Probably not. Did I cut it? Probably not. And when people say, ‘You’re injury-prone’… I wasn’t. I was fit.

    “You all move on but I’ve seen things like someone saying, ‘We overpaid for Pritchard’. OK, that’s not my problem. That was what you did. I came in the January, you ended up staying in the league and you earned whatever you earned (from being a Premier League club again). I bet you didn’t say anything about how much I cost then. After you’ve stayed up, did you invest enough? I don’t know. That’s just opinions but because it didn’t work out, why did you have to say you overpaid?”

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    Pritchard celebrates scoring against West Ham for Huddersfield in November 2018 (Photo: William Early/Getty Images)
    Pritchard argues with the suggestion it didn’t work out under Wagner at the Yorkshire club: “I did work out… everything has to come to an end. Honestly, I tried everything for him. He was the perfect manager.”

    Which brings us neatly on to Daniel Farke. The Norwich head coach spent a notable moment getting a word in Pritchard’s ear following their late 1-0 win at Huddersfield on the opening day of this season. It was the first time the pair had seen each other since Pritchard left Norwich.

    “That (moment) was literally a guy I care for and one who cares for me,” says Pritchard. “He was really good with me. He would tell you when he wanted you to do things but other times, he’d say, ‘You’re here for a reason. Do what you do’. He was really good at telling me to just get on the ball; if I did that, I’d be alright. He would just make you feel good.”

    Would he have liked the chance to work with Farke for longer?

    “I can’t answer that. It’s a hindsight question.”

    Pritchard’s 18 months at Norwich are a treasure trove of forgotten moments, given all that has happened at the club since his exit.

    It starts with two 2016-17 fixtures against Brighton, the first having already been picked apart for The Athletic by Norwich’s then-captain Russell Martin. For Pritchard, it was personal.

    “The game at Brighton; I’d have looked an absolute ****house if I didn’t play,” says Pritchard. “I had a bad hip from the League Cup game at Leeds in midweek (Norwich lost on penalties after extra time) but me being me… I should never have played, but I kept my mouth shut.

    “I loved it, though! You love that moment. As soon as you step off the bus — bang! I got off with headphones on but no music playing because I wanted to hear what they were saying. I was like, ‘OK, I’m game’.”

    He laughs.

    “Then we lost 5-0.”

    The reverse fixture at Carrow Road came late in the season. Pritchard scored twice, although both were credited as David Stockdale own goals after the shots hit the woodwork and went in off the goalkeeper.

    “I remember going back after the second one. I was with Naisy (team-mate Steven Naismith) and he just laughed,” he says. “I said, ‘Naisy, I’ve got nothing from either these goals. I don’t even get an assist here!’ They’d already gone up by then and I was probably up against a guy who was still drunk, but I’d have taken them.”

    By that time, Norwich’s early promise had disintegrated into a failed bid for an immediate Premier League return, Alex Neil’s sacking, and the eventual decision to bring in a new sporting director in Stuart Webber.

    Two of Pritchard’s seven credited goals that season came in a 5-1 home win over Nottingham Forest; both were excellent, although overshadowed by even better strikes from Wes Hoolahan and, especially, Jonny Howson.


    “The one with my left foot; the ball was going to Jonny and you heard the crowd go, ‘Shooooot’. Then, he gave it to me and they all went, ‘Eww’…” Pritchard smiles. “So I’m like, ‘**** it’. Out of my feet. Bang! ‘I can shoot as well, you know!’

    “I have some very good memories. When it clicked at that gaff, it clicked.

    “Wes was getting older, but what a great character and player. I’d love to think I’ll still be playing at his age. With him, James Maddison… you bounce off each other. If one of them was playing and you weren’t, you’re pissed, but we could play together. It was just a trust thing because defensively, we weren’t going to be as good as other people but some games, it didn’t matter because we created so much. Against Rotherham, I remember that goal. I passed it through someone’s legs to Wes and he chopped, chopped, chopped.



    “If you give me a maths question, I couldn’t tell you (the answer) but if I’ve got someone coming up behind me when I’ve got the ball, then I can tell you. With Madders, you could tell he had a bit, that he had that intelligence; an aura and confidence.

    “I really hope he figures it all out and goes on to be what he wants to be. It’s a short career. I’m 28. I don’t know what’s next. He’s still got it all at Leicester. I just hope he gets into that England squad and nails it down.”

    Then, there was Nelson Oliveira.

    “He’s a great guy. I mean, I would have punched him in the face but the next day, I would’ve hugged him. That was Nelson,” says Pritchard. “We’d have a five-a-side in training and if you got Nelson, you’d scratch your head because he could score 15 goals and you’re telling the losing team to get your lunch — and another day, if Nelson didn’t fancy it, you’d have to put in some extra effort yourself.”

    Oliveira’s Norwich career was effectively over by the summer of 2018. Pritchard’s had ended the previous January but in completely different circumstances and after some rare friction between Farke and Webber.

    Pritchard had damaged ligaments in his right ankle in a 2017 pre-season friendly at Cambridge United, right at the start of Farke’s reign. It sidelined him for the first half of the season and provides a great unknown over how the Norwich careers of Pritchard and Maddison may have both worked out differently.

    As Pritchard flew back from the US, alongside injured team-mate Matt Jarvis, with his rehab completed there was a suggestion that Huddersfield wanted to give him a Premier League shortcut. By the new year, that suggestion became a concrete offer.

    “It wasn’t like I was jumping to leave Norwich. I loved it there. I’ve still got a place there,” says Pritchard. “But I was 24, just had my second ankle injury. I’d only played a few games and we were in the bottom half (of the Championship). It was in transition. I’d seen other boys go and I had a shot at the Premier League.

    “If I don’t leave, never kick a ball in the Premier League and my career is over…” Pritchard puffs out his cheeks. “I don’t know how I’d be. When I left Norwich, it was a bit sour; as if I’d just got up and left, but put yourself in my shoes and tell me I’m wrong.

    “Stuart had just come from Huddersfield, so straight away he was like, ‘Jesus!’, but I just wanted to get it done because only a handful of people get to experience that Premier League life. It was a difficult conversation with him but look at what he’s done since, so what does it matter?

    “People said that to me, ‘****ing hell, Pritch. You left Norwich to go to Huddersfield. They’ve got in the Premier League and you’ve just gone down’, but that’s hindsight! I’m not bitter about that. I’m grateful Norwich went up. I hope they stay there now, because it’s a great club with great players, a great manager and great fans.”

    Sky Sports News briefly interrupts us with the news Grant Hanley has made Scotland’s European Championship squad.

    “I met up with Grant in Amsterdam once,” Pritchard says casually. “He’s a very good player, by the way — and so quick!

    Pritchard’s £11 million sale didn’t directly help Norwich’s much-needed training ground redevelopments at Colney but it filled the hole over which the foundations were laid. His replacement was signed during the same window, although he had to wait until the summer to arrive in Norfolk. His name? Emiliano Buendia.

    Pritchard has not returned to Colney since he left. If he ever does, he will see a wall in a walkway to Norwich’s new gym and academy building that carries the name of every player to have appeared for the club in their 119-year history, including his.

    “Will I? That’s cool.” He looks genuinely touched.

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    Pritchard made 43 appearances for Norwich (Photo: Chris Radburn/PA Images via Getty Images)
    It is Tottenham’s academy that brought Pritchard through. Eye-catching appearances in the NextGen Series attracted links with some of Europe’s biggest names — “Yeah, but it was probably bollocks. Imagine the Essex boy at Barcelona!” — and soon, the loan moves piled up. They included sharing an apartment with Ryan Mason while the pair were on loan at League One Swindon in 2013-14.

    “We just had good fun. Lived in each other’s pockets. We did really well that year, too; just missed out on the play-offs. You were at a £40 million training ground, then you go to Swindon and I’m icing (having an ice-bath) in a dustbin — and that’s good! I liked those moments.

    “Mase, though? What a player. Seeing him come through and what he was doing, you think, ‘Woah, is this what I’ve got to get to?’ What happened to him is just bad but look at him now. He’s thriving off it all. That’s just him. From that setback to where he’s got to is just excellent.”

    Pritchard’s first injury on his right ankle happened at the 2015 European Under-21 Championship, where Gareth Southgate’s England squad also included Harry Kane, Danny Ings, Jesse Lingard, Ben Gibson, James Ward-Prowse and John Stones.

    “It was a corner, I came out, turned and did it. But then I saw Redders (Nathan Redmond) running, so I literally kicked the ball with no ligaments in my ankle. The pain!” says Pritchard, whose Euros ended there and then. England went on to beat Sweden, the eventual tournament winners, 1-0 but still finished bottom of their group.

    “We had no success, which honestly was sad,” he reflects.” The quality was phenomenal. Look at that squad!

    John Stones is the one for me. I played against him at Everton and he won’t mind me saying this because he’s a top guy, but I scored against him. He had a bit of a stinker. From where he went to now coming back; that’s unbelievable character.”

    Pritchard exuding his respect for a football colleague leaves you wondering if people have a fair perception of him?

    “I’ve never done an interview like this,” he admits. “I just always like to try things, meet new people… maybe Brentford fans would tell you different and I love those fans as well.”

    Because his 2014-15 loan season, which saw him score a dozen league goals and miss just one league game as they made the Championship play-offs, went well?

    “Yeah, but it’s not like I don’t like Huddersfield fans. They stuck with us when it was tough. We just lost a bit of connection towards the end. I didn’t want to put anything on social media for people to go, ‘You’re effing this and that’. It doesn’t wind me up but it winds other people up that are close to me. That’s why I don’t do it.

    “There was a woman who used to go all the time at Huddersfield and would send paper clippings to the woman opposite my nan, here in Essex. How could you not like that?”

    There are a couple of reminders of Pritchard’s past on a nearby table: a Championship man-of-the-match award and a piece of glass marking him Norwich’s player of the month for April 2017. Where his next moment to savour will come from is unknown.

    “I’m just glad I’ve got this break,” says Pritchard. “Hopefully I get a fresh start and can show everyone. That is my big thing next season. The fire. Having fans back. Getting a chance.

    “It’s not even to show everyone. It’s just to show myself.”
     
    #641
  2. FellTop

    FellTop Well-Known Member

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    I am personally taking 3 year deals as positive. If these players fit the way the club are going to play why not. Going forward if Johnson moves on the next fella will be told to play the same way. Having players used to that over a long period should be a help. These 1 and 2 year deals of the past need to be the exceptions now.
     
    #642
  3. Football Dinosaur

    Football Dinosaur Well-Known Member

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    It's fine if they're at the start of their career's u23 fir example. For a 28 year old with injury and attitude worries it's not great. Will see over next few months.
     
    #643
  4. ChunkFTM

    ChunkFTM Well-Known Member

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    We’ve just got £0.00 for a 30 goal striker haha, our approach in the past couldn’t have gone much worse so I’ve no issues with changing how we go about things
     
    #644
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  5. Guy Incognito

    Guy Incognito Well-Known Member

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    2 year deal with an option to extend after so many games would be my go. Gives us this season and a chance to see if he's up to it in the championship (hopefully).
     
    #645
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  6. Sunderpitt

    Sunderpitt Well-Known Member

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    Imho, there was an argument to keep Wyke, simply cos he worked well with Mcgeady.

    Imho, there is a strong argument to dump Grigg, cos he is useless.
     
    #646
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  7. APC

    APC Well-Known Member

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    He said he’s expecting it to go through soon in the tweet before that mate?
     
    #647
  8. Southern A

    Southern A Well-Known Member

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    yes - I think we all expect it to go through. But he said that there were a few issues to deal with and it seems one of those is length of contract. Which I'd say is a pretty big issue. Of course it may have already been resolved - I was just pointing out that if Keith thinks he might not get the 3 years he wants then its clearly not as advanced to his knowledge as he's suggesting it is.
     
    #648
  9. APC

    APC Well-Known Member

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    He said the last bits are being tied up mate, it looks like the player wanted a 3 year deal but whether or not that’s what it is when the contracts signed is a different matter
     
    #649
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  10. Southern A

    Southern A Well-Known Member

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    Yeh - he could be saying its agreed but he doesn't know what was agreed,

    I'm just saying his first tweet says its a 3 year deal and a few bits to sort out. Then his second tweet says he doesn't know if Pritchard will get the 3 years he wants.

    That to me means either they haven't agreed duration yet, or at least Keith doesn't know the duration so probably should have left out the 3 year bit (which is probably why he then clarified)

    The fact he's done a medical however does suggest it was all agreed so you're probably right.
     
    #650

  11. John Wick

    John Wick Well-Known Member

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    Never understood the dislike for Wyke. Bloke was paid to score goals, and he did 30 of them. He wasn't fast etc but he scored.Any other season in any other league with promotion, your striker scores 30 goals you go up. Just a shame the defence didn't do their bit abit more. Alas we move on and on to better.
     
    #651
  12. Football Dinosaur

    Football Dinosaur Well-Known Member

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    The cobbled together defence did well and had good record. Keeper made too many gas but reason we didn't go up was the midfield. Couldn't control games and didn't score enough. Need to fix that sharpish.
     
    #652
  13. APC

    APC Well-Known Member

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    I just read it as they’re just finalising a few formalities mate, just got to keep our fingers crossed
     
    #653
  14. Southern A

    Southern A Well-Known Member

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    Yeh I probably worded my post wrongly. I wasn't "worried" that it wasn't advanced, more pointing out what I saw as contradictory tweets. Now I think about it and read again I'm with you.
     
    #654
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  15. Southern A

    Southern A Well-Known Member

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    I think they were hoping for 2 in this week weren't they? Feels odd that we haven't had many fresh rumours pop up other than Pritchard which came out of the blue yesterday.

    Quite exciting to think that such a move could happen so quickly over the next few weeks.
     
    #655
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  16. rooch 3

    rooch 3 Well-Known Member

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    <diva><laugh><diva><diva><diva><diva><diva><cheers><cheers><cheers><cheers><cheers><cracker><cracker><cracker><cracker><cracker>
     
    #656
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  17. Iain

    Iain Well-Known Member

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    Is that a hint mate
     
    #657
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  18. vinkel

    vinkel Well-Known Member

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    Pritchard + Onien =2
     
    #658
  19. rooch 3

    rooch 3 Well-Known Member

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    Don’t think he’ll get a sniff, if he does our new defence want sending back from where it came from. Carthorse.
     
    #659
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  20. Southern A

    Southern A Well-Known Member

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    nah I can't see they're including Luke as a new signing.
     
    #660

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