How Norwich City struck gold for £0 - The phenomenon that transformed the club | OneFootball

Teemu Pukki joined Norwich City in the summer of 2018 in what is one of the club's best-ever signings.

Teemu Pukki joined Norwich City in the summer of 2018 on a free transfer following his release from Danish side Brondby and helped fire the Canaries to the Championship title on two separate occasions.

Over the years, Norwich have earned themselves the reputation as a yo-yo club, one that is too good for the Championship but not quite good enough for the Premier League, having been promoted to the top flight three times and relegated four times since 2014.

Following a disappointing 2017/18 campaign where Norwich dropped to 14th in the league after an eighth-place finish the season prior, manager Daniel Farke was keen to make some key additions to his Canaries squad despite a minimal budget.

In came the signings of Emiliano Buendia from Spanish outfit Getafe for a reported £1.5 million, Moritz Leitner from Augsburg and Finnish striker Pukki on a free transfer from Brondby IF in Denmark.

Little was expected of Pukki following his arrival, having arrived as an unknown quantity in English football, but he took the Championship and Carrow Road by storm and even translated his goalscoring prowess to the glitz and glamour of the Premier League.

Teemu Pukki's impact at Norwich City

Pukki began his inaugural season with the Canaries on the wing to facilitate Championship second all-time top goalscorer Jordan Rhodes, but he would eventually shift into a more central role, with Onel Hernandez and the aforementioned Buendia preferred on the wings.

The 130-time-capped Finland international made the striker role his own, as he smashed in 29 goals with a further ten assists in 43 Championship games, claiming the league's top goalscorer as he helped Norwich fire themselves to the league title.

In the Premier League the following season, even though Norwich were ultimately relegated rock-bottom of the table, Pukki still notched a respectable 11 goals and three assists in 36 games.

Pukki remained at Carrow Road for the 2020/21 season in a bid to help Norwich earn an immediate return to the Premier League, which they did, winning the league title in emphatic fashion, with the Fin hitting 26 goals and four assists in 41 league matches.

Much like in his first season in Norfolk, Pukki enjoyed a wonderful partnership with the aforementioned Buendia, whose unparalleled creativity up against Championship defences provided no shortage of service to the ex-Celtic forward.

Norwich would ultimately finish rock bottom of the Premier League again, with Pukki replicating his output from his prior season in the top flight, notching 11 goals and three assists in 37 matches.

In his penultimate season at Carrow Road, the 2022/23 season, Pukki would again hit double digits for the fifth consecutive season at Norwich, scoring 10 times and assisting seven as the club finished a disappointing 13th.

Norwich City hero Teemu Pukki left a lasting legacy at Carrow Road

After five years with the club, just as he joined on a free transfer, he did so when he departed, heading to the MLS to join Minnesota United, where he would spend two years before heading back to his native Finland with HJK Helsinki, where he plays today at 35.

Pukki is Norwich's second-top goalscorer of all time across all competitions with 88 goals, just one off Welshman Iwan Roberts.

Without his goals, the Canaries almost certainly wouldn't have earned promotion to the Premier League on two separate occasions.

210 appearances, 88 goals, 29 assists, two promotions from one free transfer - as far as signings go, Pukki wasn't half bad and he rightly remains a modern-day Norwich legend.