Norwich City v Sunderland - and some interesting player connections

Alex Pritchard and Patrick Roberts came to Carrow Road in August 2016 and May 2019 respectively. Pritchard cost City £8m, Roberts was a season-long loan.

Neither move quite worked out.

Pritchard ended up starting just 24 league games in the season and a half he was here – coincidentally, exactly the same number he has started for the Black Cats this season.

City had hijacked Pritchard’s transfer from Spurs to Brighton, and shelled out £8m for the striker, but the Canaries never really saw the best of him. A pre-season injury in 2017 sidelined him for three months and just as Pritchard started to shine, Huddersfield came in with a £10m offer which City couldn’t refuse, even though Terriers owner Dean Hoyle later admitted they paid too much for him. Huddersfield’s manager at the time was David Wagner, their head of football operations Stuart Webber.

Patrick Roberts - his loan spell was cut short (Image: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd)

Roberts was a very different case: Norwich were his third loan club of six before Manchester City finally let him to go to Sunderland last year. He started just one game - in the League Cup - for Norwich, making three appearances off the bench in the Premier League. His loan was ended early – in January 2020 – and he joined Middlesbrough.

Pritchard and Roberts are showing their true colours at the Stadium of Light: there is little doubt Pritchard was a quality player, perhaps just devoid of a bit of luck, although City fans saw so little of Roberts here that it’s hard to judge him on much apart from his performances this season for Sunderland.

There are many player and manager connections between City and Sunderland, but a couple are worthy of mention…

Dickson Etuhu (Image: Newsquest library)

Dickson Etuhu: A powerful midfielder whose loan from Preston became a permanent deal in January 2006. Started 57 league games before joining Sunderland in July 2007. In June 2020, Etuhu was handed a five-year ban from football in Sweden for match fixing.

Chris Brown (Image: Newsquest library)

Chris Brown: Big striker signed from Sunderland by Peter Grant in January 2007 – a month after some revelations about a very indiscreet video made by him and some team-mates. Sent off on his City debut. Scored one goal in 11 league starts.