Norwich City frustration must still exist after £6.9m snub - Spurs will always be thankful | OneFootball

The Canaries had a deal agreed for this defender back in 2013, but much to Spurs' gain, the transfer fell through.

Norwich City will surely still feel an element of frustration when their £6.9million deal to sign Toby Alderweireld fell through back in 2013.

A Premier League side at the time, the Canaries had agreed a £6.9m fee with Ajax for the Belgian defender, but Alderweireld was adamant he didn’t want to move to England to join a club residing in the middle of the league table.

He ultimately moved to Atletico Madrid instead that summer, before eventually getting his first of English football with Southampton the following season. Alderweireld’s Norwich snub turned out to be extremely important for Tottenham, given that they bought him from Atletico in 2015.

The centre back became a hugely important figure for Spurs over his six-year spell at the club, and Norwich must surely still harbour some frustrations given the player he went on to become.

Norwich must surely still have frustrations about the way Alderweireld turned them down

When the Canaries began their pursuit of Alderweireld in the summer of 2013, it came as part of a summer spending spree that also included signings like Nathan Redmond, Ricky Van Wolfswinkel, Gary Hooper and Leroy Fer.

The Norfolk outfit had finished 12th and then 11th in their first two seasons back in the top flight, and were looking to kick on and push themselves up into the top half of the Premier League.

A highly rated 24-year-old at the time, Alderweireld was intended to be a part of that development. Norwich had faced competition from the likes of Liverpool, Manchester United, Everton and Newcastle but, with a fee agreed, they were the only club to make concrete progress.

However, with the Belgian certain he didn’t want to move to England to join a mid-table club, the deal fell through. Unfortunately for Norwich, their summer spending didn’t pay off and they slipped to an 18th-placed finish and relegation in 2013/14.

Alderweireld went on to join Atletico Madrid shortly after Norwich’s failed attempt, and after making just 16 appearances in the Spanish capital, found himself making the switch to England on a loan deal with Southampton in 2014/15.

Ironically for Norwich, the Saints had finished lower than them the season before their attempt to sign the Belgian, but with Mauricio Pochettino leading them to a European berth for the 2014/15 season, they suddenly became a much more attractive proposition.

Saints had an option to buy Alderweireld for £6.8million as part of their loan agreement, but Atletico later cancelled it in order to sell to the highest bidder. That ended up being Tottenham in the summer of 2015 and, given what the Belgian went on to achieve in North London, Norwich must surely be left wondering what could have been.

Alderweireld became a key player at Spurs

After making the switch to Tottenham, Alderweireld became an instant hit at the club.

He continued the impressive form that he had shown on the south coast and immediately began to forge the partnership with Jan Vertonghen that served both Spurs and the Belgian national team so well over the years.

He was named in the PFA Team of the Year at the end of his first season with the club, as Pochettino’s men finished third and conceded the joint-lowest number of goals in the division.

Tottenham went one better the following season by finishing second (their highest league finish of the Premier League era), but couldn’t prevent the title from going to their London rivals Chelsea.

In 2018/19, Alderweireld played every single minute of Spurs’ Champions League campaign as they went on to reach the final for the first time in the club’s history, ultimately losing 2-0 to Liverpool in Paris.

The centre back eventually left Tottenham after six years of service in the summer of 2021, when he joined Qatari side Al-Duhail. However, after just one season with the Middle Eastern outfit, he was on the move again, this time joining Royal Antwerp back in his homeland.

In June 2023, the defender netted a 94th-minute equaliser to clinch Antwerp’s first league title for 66 years on the final day of the season, helping to complete a league and cup double in the process.

Now 36, the Belgian has made 26 appearances for Antwerp this season, but is set to retire at the end of the season.

He has also enjoyed a glittering career as part of the Belgian national team, collecting 111 caps and representing his country in three World Cups and two European Championships.

While Norwich obviously couldn’t have done anymore to bring Alderweireld to the club, they must surely have been left frustrated by their failure to sign him, especially considering what he has gone on to achieve.