Norwich City may have loved Rangers transfer decision - there’s one huge catch | OneFootball

Norwich were unable to take advantage of Todd Cantwell's £30m transfer value but they still got something from his sale to Rangers

Todd Cantwell emerged from the Norwich City academy system to become a prominent member of two promotion winning teams for the club.

The 2018/19 season was his real breakthrough, with the attacking-midfielder featuring 24 times in the Championship as Daniel Farke’s side won the league title on their way to Premier League promotion.

He contributed just one goal and two assists, but he showed a lot of promise that he started to deliver on with the team in the top flight.

Cantwell’s high water mark came when he scored in Norwich’s 3-2 victory over champions Manchester City on 14 September 2019, which was his second of six in the league that campaign.

However, the Norfolk outfit ultimately suffered relegation back to the Championship in 2020 and the now 28-year-old’s time at the club faded until he eventually left for Rangers in 2023.

While there may have been some relief by the time he eventually departed, there will always be a part of the club that wonders what could’ve been had they been smarter in managing Cantwell’s career.

Norwich missed out on major Todd Cantwell windfall

Cantwell was seen as the next big thing following his goal scoring performance in the win over Pep Guardiola’s side.

This led to transfer speculation surrounding his future, with the likes of Liverpool and Manchester United both being linked with a move.

It was reported that the Canaries had set an asking price of £30 million for his services, with Tottenham Hotspur and Man City both also mentioned as possible destinations.

The Reds were on the verge of a first league title in 30 years, and were already European champions, while Spurs were the defeated finalists.

There wasn’t a higher calibre of club that could’ve been chasing Cantwell, but by the time the January transfer window in 2020 rolled around, he ultimately stayed at Carrow Road.

Cantwell managed just six goals as Norwich gained promotion again in 2021, with his influence on the side beginning to wane by that point.

But even still, Newcastle United were linked with a £15 million move for the playmaker in the 2022 January transfer market that they failed to take advantage of.

He played just 26 more times in the league for the Canaries before eventually joining Rangers in the 2023 January transfer window.

A reported fee of just £1.5 million highlighted how far his star fell by the time he left Carrow Road.

It will ultimately come as a relief to Norwich that Cantwell was unable to get back to his best during his time at Ibrox.

He spent a year-and-a-half with the Glasgow outfit, playing 46 times in the Scottish Premiership before coming back to the Championship in the 2024 summer market.

The 28-year-old signed for Blackburn Rovers after a decent spell of form for Rangers where he contributed 13 goals and nine assists, with the team coming second two seasons in a row to Celtic.

Cantwell has settled into a prominent role at Rovers, albeit plagued somewhat by injuries.

While he has proven himself as a very capable player at a Championship level, he has been unable to hit the same heights that he reached before the turn of the decade.

It was a magical evening at Carrow Road when he opened the scoring in the 3-2 win over Man City in 2019, and Norwich will always have some regret that things didn’t quite work out after that.

But they will at least be happy that they were able to offload him to Rangers for something, and it’s a move that worked out best for the club and the player.