Norwich City are hitting the transfer jackpot where Sheffield United couldn’t | OneFootball

Former Blade Anis Ben Slimane is in inspired form for the Canaries under Philippe Clement

Norwich City are hitting the transfer jackpot where Sheffield United couldn’t with Tunisian midfielder Anis Ben Slimane.

His recent goal burst under Philippe Clement shows why the Canaries were right to back a player Blades never fully trusted, but the Belgian manager deserves just as much credit.

While Blades must’ve been content to bank a modest reported windfall of around £1.2m and move on, Norwich have unearthed a real presence in midfield just as their season has begun to move in the right direction.

How Anis Ben Slimane has turned his Norwich City career around under Philippe Clement

Norwich initially brought Ben Slimane to Carrow Road on a late‑window loan from Sheffield United, with an option to buy that underlined quiet internal confidence in his ceiling.

The Tunisia international quickly settled, making his debut off the bench in a 1–0 win at Coventry City before opening his goal account in a 6–1 demolition of Plymouth Argyle.

Those early months were not without bumps, though, as he was in and out of the Starting XI and, at times, looked more like a useful rotation player rather than an automatic starter. By the end of 24/25, he had started 25 of the 36 Championship games he played in.

The real turning point in Slimane’s Norwich form came with a personal appeal to Philippe Clement, as revealed by The Pink Un.

According to the Norwich head coach, Slimane argued his case for a more prominent attacking role, asking to be trusted higher up the pitch in the number 10 role, instead of playing deeper.

Clement revealed to The Pink Un: "I like to ask also players, ‘What positions do you see yourself playing?’ And that was one of the questions. And he said, ‘I've played now this last, I think it was two weeks or something that he was training, a lot in the six or eight, but I can play on the 10 and the way you want to play, I really can do a good job there’."

This has perhaps worked better than anybody was expecting, and obviously led to Ben Slimane earning the club's Player of the Month award for January.

Sheffield United never saw what Norwich City are with Anis Ben Slimane

According to The Star, Blades paid less than £1m to bring Ben Slimane to South Yorkshire from Danish club Brondby, yet he never came good for the then-Premier League side.

Ben Slimane only started four top-flight games in his first season at Bramall Lane, and made a total of 15 league appearances. Before being shipped out on that initial loan spell to Norwich, the midfielder played just four times at the start of 24/25.

When the permanent move was going through, Chris Wilder wasn't bitter about Ben Slimane moving on for good - and it seems like United just wasn't a good fit for him. Wilder told The Star when asked about Tunisian's transfer: "Yeah, I think there is progression on that, both clubs are working on a permanent deal with Anis. The boy sees his future at a very good football club, so I’ve got no issue with that."

From these words, it suggests that Wilder was quite happy to move him on and thought Norwich was a good fit. Yet, as the midfielder's influence grows in Norfolk, surely United fans were expecting this a few years ago when they signed him first in the Premier League.

Ultimately, it seems like Slimane’s upturn in form has coincided with Norwich’s own this season. Before his goal burst, the Canaries’ season had been defined by inconsistency, with too many games being thrown away.

Disregarding Tuesday night’s game against Oxford, Slimane has stepped up with four goals and one assist in just five starts under Clement, who has publicly mentioned he wants all his squad to grow into Premier League players.