Norwich City: Spotlight on Canaries' winger Onel Hernandez

The Cuban can consider himself an adopted son of Norfolk now. Not only family ties but a deep footballing connection have been forged since he arrived in January 2018.

It has never been plain sailing; injuries, loan spells away when he found himself out of favour, persistent questions about his effectiveness when measured in goals and assists. But Hernandez is a survivor, and he remains perhaps in some quarters an undervalued commodity.

He is one of the last remaining links on the playing staff to the Daniel Farke era, and whatever the future now holds under Johannes Hoff Thorup and Ben Knapper he might well find he can use that experience and know how to help bridge what could be an uncomfortable transition period.

Be it in the tattoo displaying his affection for his club, or the highly entertaining video logs, Hernandez gets Norwich and the fan base. There is a connection that feels mutual and longer lasting.

It is why most home games - whether he is in the squad or watching from the stands - you will hear a burst or two of the familiar refrain about him tearing down the wing for them.

Last season was tough, arguably the toughest of his spell in green and yellow. Injury intervened during a freak training ground episode when he kicked through a team mate as he went to shoot, which curtailed his campaign in early March.

The road back to fitness has been well-documented on his own social media channels. Watch and listen to some of the latest output, and mixed in with the jokes and sunny disposition is a revealing degree of self awareness and self reflection.

He knows the clock is ticking as he enters the final 12 months of his current Carrow Road deal. There is a club option beyond that, but given Knapper has stated he is keen to lower the age profile, the Cuban international probably senses how the wind is blowing.

“At 31 I want to still compete. I was unlucky last year with injuries. We have a lot of good young talents coming up, but I don’t want to make it easy for anyone. It could be my last season at Norwich. I want to push myself to the limit.

"For that, I just want to make sure that it (the coming season) is a good one…there have been a lot of seasons that have not been good enough. I know I can do better.”

Thorup is the latest head coach he must impress. So much about what this City squad looks like moving forward is still a matter of conjecture until the highly-rated Dane arrives to direct pre-season.

Norwich City flyer Onel Hernandez gives fans an insight into his life away from the pitch (Image: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd)

Then the clues may start to unfold as the countdown begins to the Championship kick-off on the weekend of August 10. Who is in favour, who is not. Who is coming, who is going.

With the transfer window yet to open so much remains to be decided.

If Jon Rowe, a fellow winger, departs Thorup and Knapper may wish to replace him with a new face. That hardly makes Hernandez’s task any easier.

Borja Sainz will surely make dramatic strides from a debut season which showcased his talent, but also served as a reminder the Spaniard is a work in progress, with some flaws and imperfections one hopes a bumpy first year in England may have smoothed out.

Prior to Hernandez’s early Spring exit from the club’s failed play-off bid he had only completed one 90 minutes in 30 league appearances last season.

David Wagner at times spoke about extracting more from the Cuban in and out of possession but the emergence of Rowe and Sainz, and perhaps the more considered promptings of one of his own signings in Christian Fassnacht, combined to again consign Hernandez to that support role, which has been his for the vast majority of his Carrow Road stay.

But that is not to dismiss his value on and off the park. Maybe under the tactically astute Thorup, Hernandez still has a chapter or two to write in green and yellow. This coming campaign needs to be more than a long goodbye from the shadows. He deserves better than that.