Norwich beat Spurs to signing of van Wolfswinkel
Norwich have wrapped up the signing of Sporting Lisbon striker Ricky van Wolfswinkel, reports The Metro.
The 24-year-old Dutchman will officially arrive at Carrow Road on 1st June in a club record £8.5m deal, and will be under contract to the Canaries for 4 years. He will join up with the main squad in July after the summer break.
Norwich beat off competition from the likes of Tottenham, Arsenal and Liverpool for the player’s signature, and club director Stephen Fry took to Twitter to express his delight at the Dutchman’s arrival.
“Indeed Ricky van Wolfswinkel is a fine purchase. Fine name, fine player,” said the 55-year-old.
The move is seen as a coup for the East Anglians, especially with Spurs having made an ultimately unsuccessful last-ditch effort to tempt the player to North London instead.
Canaries manager Chris Hughton also expressed his excitement at working with van Wolfswinkel, who is regarded as one of the best young strikers in Europe. He said: “Ricky’s profile is a perfect fit for us. He’s young, ambitious and a proven goalscorer. I’m delighted we’ve been able to agree a deal and we look forward to welcoming Ricky to the squad in July.
“He has an excellent goalscoring pedigree and he’s a young man very keen to continue his personal progression and to play in England. He’s already an exciting talent but he still has more development as a player ahead of him.”
According to The Mirror, the deal also importantly means that Sporting president Godinho Lopes will be able to pay two months' worth of owed wages to coaching and playing staff at the club.
Van Wolfswinkel arrived at Sporting in 2011 from Utrecht, and has made 68 appearances so far for the club, scoring 22 goals. He has also earned one cap for his native Netherlands, in a friendly against Ukraine in August 2010.
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