Norwich City laughed loudest at Huddersfield Town transfer decision | OneFootball

Norwich City sold Alex Pritchard to Huddersfield Town for £12 million in January 2018

Norwich City's first season back in the Championship following relegation from the Premier League in 2016 didn't exactly go to plan, as the Canaries fell well short of their goal of promotion under Alex Neil.

Norwich finished the 2016/17 season in 8th place, with Scottish boss Neil being dismissed in March and replaced by Alex Irvine until the end of the campaign.

Ahead of the next campaign, German boss Daniel Farke took charge at Carrow Road and was tasked with guiding the Norfolk-based outfit back to the top-flight.

As the January 2018 transfer window rolled around, Norwich found themselves in a stretch of inconsistent form, having endured an eight-game unbeaten run between September and October, with five wins in that period, only to then win one of their next ten league games, as Farke struggled to dig himself out of the rut.

Both Onel Hernandez and Kenny McLean joined Norwich that winter, both of whom would go on to have seismic impacts at the club, whilst Cameron Jerome departed for Derby County, as the Canaries collected an eight-figure fee from a Premier League side for a player who had spent much of the first few couple of months in the treatment room, in a sale they surely couldn't believe their luck with.

Norwich City sold Alex Pritchard to Huddersfield Town in January 2018 for £12 million

English attacking-midfielder Alex Pritchard came through the ranks at Tottenham Hotspur, but only managed two senior appearances in North London, as he would head out on a series of loan spells to the likes of Peterborough United, Swindon Town, Brentford, and West Bromwich Albion, before joining Norwich permanently in 2016.

Norwich paid a reported £8 million to bring Pritchard to Carrow Road, and in his first full season for the Canaries, he would score six and assist nine in 30 Championship games.

He would injure his ankle the following pre-season and spent three months out on the sidelines, before returning for eight games, scoring once and assisting twice, as Huddersfield Town decided to part ways with a potential £12 million to end his 18-month stay in Norfolk.

The attacking-midfiedler scored once and assisted once in 14 top-flight games for the Terriers in the following six months after joining, helping to keep the West Yorkshire side in the Premier League against the odds.

It was hoped that he would kick on and become David Wagner's main man next campaign. However, that couldn't have been further from the truth.

Pritchard scored just twice without assisting in 30 Premier League appearances the following season as Huddersfield were relegated, but his fortunes didn't improve upon returning to the second tier.

The former England youth international would fail to score in any of his next 36 appearances across the next two years in the second tier with Huddersfield, and left the club on a free transfer upon the expiry of his contract.

An array of various injuries hampered his time at the ACCU Stadium, though whenever he was fit enough to get on the pitch, he didn't make up for his absence, as he will go down as one of Huddersfield's worst-ever signings.

Norwich laughed to the bank after the £12 million sale of Alex Pritchard

Following the sale of Pritchard to Huddersfield, Norwich would go on to finish that season in 14th, but bounced back emphatically the year after, romping to the Championship title spearheaded by Argentine attacking-midfielder Emiliano Buendia, who replaced Prichard's role at Carrow Road to devastating effect.

The Canaries have continued to yo-yo between the first and second tier since, whilst Pritchard would join Sunderland in League One and helped to guide the Black Cats back to the Championship, where he would continue to feature as a regular at the Stadium of Light, and endured a much more joyful time on Wearside than in West Yorkshire.

Huddersfield never recouped the fee they paid for Pritchard, whilst Norwich invested the money they received for him incredibly well, as his sale allowed Farke the springboard to send the Canaries flying back to the Premier League.

Pritchard would spend time with Birmingham City and Sivasspor thereafter, with his spell at Huddersfield being the most difficult across his entire career.