Norwich City have struck gold with £3m striker transfer | OneFootball

Mohamed Touré has given Canaries fans a huge reason for optimism heading into the summer

Norwich City made one of the most shrewd pieces of transfer business in the Championship this past season, and it came in the winter window.

The player in question is Australian international Mohamed Touré, yet he probably arrived at Carrow Road in January as something of an afterthought after the Canaries' main striker target slipped through their fingers.

Philippe Clement's side may have finished eight points shy of the play-off places, in ninth, but their comeback was extremely impressive, and Touré has given Norwich fans a genuine reason for optimism heading into the summer.

Why Mohamed Touré might not have joined Norwich City

As everyone is perhaps aware, Norwich had been working hard to bring in a striker during the January window, and their ambitions were quite big.

As Clement himself revealed, via Paddy Davitt, the Canaries came "really, really close" to signing Kasper Høgh, the Bodø/Glimt forward who had been making headlines across Europe with his Champions League goals against Manchester City and Atlético Madrid.

A fee was reportedly discussed, a deal was on the table, and then the Norwegian club's continued progression in Europe made the move impossible.

As such, Norwich turned their attention to a 22-year-old Australian playing in the Danish Superliga for Randers FC, Touré. The fee was said to be in the region of £2.6m, rising to approximately £3m with potential add-ons, for a player who had scored 11 goals in 39 league appearances in Denmark.

In a recent interview reflecting on the move, the former Adelaide United prospect admitted the transfer came at a particularly uncertain time.

The striker said, as per News Australia, "It was like a last-minute move late in the window. I didn’t know what to expect.

"I had a lot of comments about me moving to the Championship, some were negative, some were positive – that’s how it is with every move.

"I kept on asking so many people. Some would say ‘it’s a tough league to go into now before the World Cup, you might not play, and if you don’t play, you lose your spot in the (Socceroos) team’.

"Others would say ‘go, it’s a very good league and a very good team’ … a lot was positive."

In the end, his instinct won. "From the time talking to Norwich when they first called me, I knew that's where I wanted to be," Touré added.

"I had a gut feeling that things would be all right. So I just followed my gut."

How Mohamed Touré can flourish at Norwich City again next season

Touré became the first player since Jesse Lingard for Birmingham City in 2013 to score a hat-trick on their starting debut across any of England's top four divisions.

He then ended the 25/26 campaign with ten goals and three assists in just 12 appearances across all competitions. According to FotMob, he averaged 1.36 goals every 90 minutes in the league.

Arguably, the biggest factor in the forward maintaining this level of consistency over a full Championship season is simply staying fit - and he has already had a slight setback during his short time in Norfolk.

That was a groin problem after just nine minutes against Sheffield Wednesday at the end of February, which ruled him out for four to six weeks.

But, in all fairness, Touré has adapted to the Championship faster than almost any newcomer in recent memory. He scored two hat-tricks in his first ten appearances for Norwich, which is a record in the club's 124-year history.

Clement is clearly invested in his development as well, and there is every reason to believe that with a full pre-season - and a clean bill of health - Touré could turn into the most feared striker in the second tier, if he wasn't already.

Even now, the £3m price tag will seem very low to Canaries fans, who will surely be eagerly waiting for the announcement of Australia's World Cup squad on 1st June.