Norwich City spent £7m after his Wigan Athletic transfer request - look where he is now

Norwich's £7m splash on Yanic Wildschut in 2017 failed to pay off

Norwich City’s relegation from the Premier League in 2016 led to a busy summer of heavy transfer spending.

The Canaries finished 19th in the table under Alex Neil just 12 months on from gaining promotion from the Championship through the play-offs.

And they responded to that with big money moves for the likes of Alex Pritchard, Nélson Oliveira and Sergi Canós.

The Norfolk outfit also completed a £7 million deal in January to sign Yanic Wildschut from Wigan Athletic after he had handed in a transfer request to the League One champions.

Yanic Wildschut’s disappointing Norwich City career after big-money switch

Action Images

Neil was hoping that Wildschut could have a big impact on Norwich’s attack, as they targeted promotion back to the Premier League at the first attempt.

The winger had contributed four goals and two assists midway through the campaign when he joined the club.

Norwich were outside the play-off places, and needed an extra spark in order to bridge the gap to the likes of Sheffield Wednesday and Leeds United.

But Wildschut disappointed, scoring just once from nine appearances as the team finished eighth in the table.

And the now 34-year-old’s last appearance for the Canaries came in the third round of the FA Cup in a 0-0 draw against Chelsea, before he went on loan to Cardiff City and then Bolton Wanderers, after failing to make an impact in the first half of 2017/18.

Yanic Wildschut failed to live up to £7m price tag at Norwich City

Given the significant outlay spent to bring Wildschut to Carrow Road midway through 2016/17, this was a massive disappointment for the club.

He played a total of 25 times in the league for Norwich, scored twice and provided one assist, with Norwich unable to compete for promotion back to the Premier League.

The Canaries reached a low point of 14th in 2017/18 under Daniel Farke before he turned things around immediately after Wildschut’s exit.

While the club did return to the Premier League in 2019, it was wasted funds like the £7 million on the winger that prevented them from investing the money necessary to compete at the highest level.

Yanic Wildschut’s journey after Norwich City

Wildschut had loan spells with Cardiff and Bolton during his time at Norwich, but he again struggled to make much of an impact in the Championship.

He was eventually released in the summer of 2019 after a miserable two-and-a-half years at Carrow Road, which led to him signing for Maccabi Haifa.

After two seasons in Israel, where he scored six times in 54 appearances, he signed for Bulgarian side CSKA Sofia.

The Suriname international was part of the team that finished second in the First League in 2021/22, playing on 29 occasions, but failing to contribute a single goal or assist, in what was a sign of how his career had gone from an exciting winger to a bit of a struggling one.

Where Yanic Wildschut is now after surprise English football return

Oxford United took a chance on Wildschut during 2022/23, bringing him back to English football over four years on from his underwhelming exit from the country.

And while he showed flashes of promise, he ultimately managed only one memorable moment, when he scored the opening goal in a 2-1 victory against Norwich’s bitter rivals Ipswich Town.

After just one season with the U’s, he signed for Exeter City, which proved to be the final stop in his playing career before effectively hanging up his boots in 2025, having failed to get another club after his stint with the Grecians.

Indeed, late that year he confirmed via LinkedIn that he was retiring from professional football, and since then, he's completed his UEFA A License coaching badges, which suggests he may be soon ready to move into an off-field role within the sport.

For now though, Wildschut is working a full-time job away from football with City Jobs, where he says he is on the road a lot and working within the shipping and metal industries - the long-term goal though will surely be to return to football in a coaching capacity.