One of Norwich City's greatest strikers is departing in the summer - CHRIS LAKEY takes a look at the Pukki Years
It was a glorious afternoon in west Norfolk when Norwich City fans got their first glimpse of Teemu Pukki in Canaries colours.
The date was July 7, 2018 - just a few days after Pukki had been signed, on a free transfer, from Danish side Brondby.
It should perhaps go down alongside Sir Alex Ferguson’s signing of Eric Cantona as an example of recruitment at its finest.
Pukki strolled around The Walks in the friendly win over King’s Lynn Town, getting used to a new life in England.” “I thought it was all long balls,” he said.
No one really knew what to expect from the Finn. What happened in the intervening years has been nothing short of extraordinary.
Almost five years later he has accrued two Championship titles, 88 league goals, 182 starts and 10 appearances off the bench.
His season totals tell the story…
2018-19: 29
2019-20: 11
2020-21: 26
2021-22: 11
2022-23: 10
Pukki has been magnificent, and without doubt will go down as one of the club’s greatest ever players.
In his first full season he began 2019 with nine goals in eight games and ended the campaign with five in seven to help City into the top flight. It helped him win the coveted Player of the Season award, a feat he was to repeat last year.
His link-up play with Emi Buendia was a joy to watch, the cornerstone of much that was good about the Canaries under Daniel Farke. Telepathy is much talked about but never proven – Pukki and Buendia defied the sceptics.
Pukki began the Premier League season in good form for club and country - he grabbed his first City hat-trick in the second game, a 3-1 home win over Newcastle United.
Having scored against Liverpool on the opening day and then against Chelsea, Pukki became the 10th player to score in each of his first three Premier League appearances. Not bad for a freebie.
The goals dried up after the turn of the year when Pukki scored just twice, and City went down.
Yet again, the Championship proved a happy hunting ground: Pukki’s pace – and he is deceptively nippy - his intelligent running and that uncanny ability to strike the ball a fraction of a second before anyone expects it, as well as his coolness under pressure all stood him in good stead.
Team-mate Marco Stiepermann, not known for his hyperbole, said: “I played together with Robert Lewandowski, and I really have this feeling Pukki is much colder in the 18-yard box than Lewandowski.”
But come the summer of 2021, Pukki lost his footballing partner in crime, as Buendia moved to Aston Villa.
It’d be unfair to say Pukki was never the same player again, of course he was. Perhaps Norwich City were never the same team again.
The Premier League season 2021-22 was another tough one, and ended with a return to the second tier… and the goals haven’t come as freely.
It is perhaps the right time to call it a day.
Pukki leaves behind a huge legacy, and an Helsinki-sized hole to fill – Josh Sargent and Adam Idah are supposedly the heirs to the throne of King Pukki, but neither has cut it this season, apart from Sargent’s pre-World Cup efforts.
With cash at a premium, sporting director Stuart Webber has a huge problem on his hands. Fortunately, he’s had plenty of advance notice, as the club’s exhortation on its website proves: “Over the coming weeks the club will be paying tribute to Teemu. Keep across the club’s social media channels and Canaries TV for upcoming content.”
And starting at Blackburn on Good Friday, Pukki has seven more opportunities to go out with a bang.
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