According to BBC, Norwich City have successfully tied down Swiss international centre-back Timm Klose to a new three-year deal at Carrow Road, which should keep him at the club until the summer of 2022.
The 31-year-old joined Norwich City in the Premier League from Bundesliga outfit Wolfsburg back in January 2016 and has made a total of 118 appearances for the Canaries in all competitions till date, finding the net on 10 occasions.
The 6ft. 4 inches Swiss international was out-of-contract in this summer and there were plenty of speculations surrounding his future at Carow Road but the Canaries have poured cold water on all those rumours by retaining his services, as they look to build a strong enough squad to thrive in the Premier League.
Klose, however, has experience of playing in the Premier League with Norwich, having joined the club in 2016 four months before they got relegated to the Championship. The towering centre-back impressed in his 10 outings in the top-flight three years ago and has played a key role at the back for the Canaries over the past three campaigns.
The 31-year-old was one of the architects of Norwich’s promotion-winning Championship campaign this term, with the veteran establishing himself as an ever-present at the back. Klose caught the eye with multiple solid shifts at the heart of the defence over the course of 31 appearances in the second-tier, as the Canaries made it back to the Premier League as the winners of the Championship.
Norwich, under the stewardship of Daniel Farke, arguably played the most attacking and attractive brand of football in the Championship this term but the same cannot be said of their defence. The Canaries backline showed signs of crumbling under pressure and they ended the season conceding 57 goals, which is a lot more than the likes of Sheffield United and Leeds United.
Susceptibility at the back is one problem that Farke needs to sort out ahead of the upcoming Premier League season and the German should be well aware of what happened to Fulham in the top-flight.
Despite the likes of Ben Godfrey, Christoph Zimmermann and Max Aarons showing plenty of character and resilience, Norwich, as a unit, have often left a lot to be desired in terms of keeping the opposition at bay with some solid defending.
To put things into perspective, Norwich needed to ensure that they had some experienced heads at the back to steer them to safety in the Premier League and that is exactly why the move to extend Timm Klose’s stay at Carrow Road should be seen as a make-or-break factor.
A full international for Switzerland with Champions League and Premier League experience under his belt, Klose is arguably the most high-profile centre-back in Norwich’s ranks.
Losing the 31-year-old on a free transfer after a promotion-winning campaign could have spelt disaster and the Canaries might as well have saved themselves a fortune by retaining his services.
Bringing in a younger like-for-like replacement would have eaten into the club’s summer budget and it is not difficult to see why they have struck gold by securing Klose’s long-term future.
Klose still has the sharpness and the reflexes to play at the highest level and he can certainly be an asset to the backline with his aerial ability, composure, experience and a sound understanding of the game.
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Daniel Farke has been instrumental in Norwich’s resurgence over the last two years and this can be classified as just another masterstroke from the former manager of Borussia Dortmund’s reserves.