Norwich City Opinion: Pawel Bochniewicz can be a useful signing for the Canaries
According to The Sun, Norwich City are interested in signing Polish defender Pawel Bochniewicz in the summer once their promotion to the Premier League is confirmed.
The same report claims that Watford are also keeping close tabs on the 23-year-old centre-back, who is contracted to Serie A outfit Udinese.
The Canaries missed the opportunity to seal promotion back to the Premier Leauge, as Daniel Farke’s side were held to a 2-2 draw away from home by Stoke City in the Championship. Three points clear of Sheffield United at the top of the table and with just two games left to play, it would be fair to say that automatic promotion looks more like a mere formality for Norwich at this point.
It is quite apparent that Norwich have already started planning for the Premier League, with the Canaries setting their sights on Pawel Bochniewicz in a bid to add more depth and steel to their leaky backline.
Farke’s free-flowing attacking football has brought the club on the brink of promotion to the top-flight but they would need to add more solidity to their defence at the end of the season if they are to survive in the Premier League.
Despite playing one of the most attractive brands of football in the second tier this season, Norwich have looked vulnerable at the back on a number of occasions, having conceded a total of 55 goals in 44 Championship games.
Youngster Ben Godfrey has really come of age for the Canaries this term, while Christoph Zimmermann has also put in multiple solid shifts at the heart of the defence, but Norwich’s backline has shown signs of creaking under pressure.
Grant Hanley has slipped down the pecking order under Farke and has started only 6 games in the Championship this season. Tim Klose is out of contract in the summer, while Marcel Franke is currently out on loan at Darmstadt in Germany.
It remains to be seen whether either of the centre-backs has a future at Carrow Road and the Canaries would do themselves a world of good by looking at new options in the summer transfer window.
Pawel Bochniewicz is not one of the household names in European football just yet but the 23-year-old centre-back has shown strong signs of promise very early in his career.
Having started his career at his hometown club Wisloka Debica back in 2010, the Pole joined Stal Mielec before being snapped up by Serie B outfit Reggina Calcio in 2013. He made a handful of appearances for Reggina before earning a move to the Italian top flight with Udinese.
Bochniewicz’s time in the Serie A wasn’t a fruitful one, as he failed to make a mark in the first-team. He was loaned out to Polish giants Gornik Zabrze in January 2018 and has continued his development in the Ekstraklasa since then.
The 23-year-old, who stands at 6ft. 4 inches, has the makings of developing into a useful defender in the Premier League. Bochniewicz has been a regular for Poland at the youth levels up to U21, though he is yet to earn a senior international call-up. The Pole is adept at reading the transitions in play and his height and physicality can add that bit of depth to the club’s defensive options.
Daniel Farke has shown the ability to transform little-known players into first-team stars at Carrow Road. The likes of Christoph Zimmermann, Marco Stiepermann, Emiliano Buendia and many others arrived at Norwich as relatively unknown entities but they have played a key role in the club’s promotion push.
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And the fans have every reason to believe that Pawel Bochniewicz can be the next in the queue, as Norwich start planning survival in the Premier League.
