Why Norwich City should re-sign Ryan Bennett before the deadline
According to a report from Sky Sports (h/t Pink ‘Un) back in August, Wolves defender Ryan Bennett had been linked with a sensational return to Championship outfit Norwich City.
Nothing came of those rumours before the international deadline but with the domestic transfer window for Premier League and EFL clubs still open until October 16, the 30-year-old remains a potential option for Daniel Farke’s side.
Bennett, who spent the second half of the previous campaign on loan at Leicester City, is currently down the pecking order under Nuno Espirito Santo at Molineux. The Orsett-born centre-back has failed to make the matchday squads for all of Wolves’ five games in all competitions so far this season.
Profile
Ryan Bennett started his professional career with Grimsby Town in League Two before making his mark in League One and the Championship with Peterborough United.
The former England U-21 international was snapped up by Norwich City in January 2012 and he went on to register a total of 119 appearances for the Canaries in all competitions, representing the Anglian club in the Premier League and Championship.
The 30-year-old departed on a free transfer to join Wolves in the summer of 2018 and played a key role as the Black Country club secured promotion to the top-flight as the outright winners of the Championship. Bennett retained his status as a regular starter during Wolves’ first season back in the PL, featuring 40 times in all competitions, but fell out of favour last term.
Bennett was limited to just 19 appearances during the first half of the 2019-20 campaign before he joined Leicester City on loan in January. However, the centre-back’s temporary stint at the King Power Stadium yielded only 5 appearances.
Norwich need a new centre-back at the earliest
Norwich City completed a loan deal for Burnley defender Ben Gibson earlier in the summer following their relegation from the top-flight at the end of last season The Canaries seemed to have enough cover at the back heading into the 2020-21 Championship campaign but things have changed drastically in recent weeks following the departures of Ben Godfrey and Timm Klose.
Christoph Zimmermann, Grant Hanley, and Gibson are all experienced defenders at the Championship level. But Norwich ideally need a fourth centre-back to ensure adequate competition for places and facilitate rotation when fixtures start to come thick and fast later on in the campaign.
To put things into perspective, the Canaries should make a move to bring Ryan Bennett back to Carrow Road before the domestic deadline in a bid to add more depth to their backline. The 30-year-old boasts enough know-how of the rough-and-tough nature of the English second-tier, having previously played over 120 games at this level.
Read more
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Verdict
Ryan Bennett has slipped further down the pecking order at Wolves following the arrival of Ki-Jana Hoever and Fernando Marcal. The 30-year-old is clearly not in the manager’s plans at Molineux, so Norwich should fancy their chances of nabbing him on the cheap.
A two-time promotion winner in the Championship, a potential deal for Bennett could well put Daniel Farke’s side in good stead for an immediate return to the Premier League.
