A move to Norwich City was a dream come true for Przemyslaw Placheta, and the Polish international reflects on his Carrow Road spell with nothing but pride.
Placheta reunited with the Canaries in midweek as an Oxford United player, having made 61 appearances for the club. The winger joined the club from Polish side Slask Wroclaw, playing a role in their promotion-winning campaign in 2020/21.
Despite struggling to secure a consistent starting berth during his time at the club, Placheta is proud of his time in Norfolk, especially that he was able to break into the first team earlier than initially planned.
"I think the plan for me at Norwich when I joined was a bit more long-term, really. It was not to be playing in the team straight away but to get used to things in England and then come into the team a little bit later on," Placheta told Oxford United's official matchday programme.
"But what I did actually was I started to play straight away, so I was very pleased with this. I was able to show my strengths and what I'm capable of doing in training, and I was already at the level that they needed from me. So this means that I could start to play for them right from the beginning. I settled into everything quite quickly and played quite a lot from early on, so I was very happy with that.
"I think I played nearly 30 games in the first year, and we won promotion to the Premier League with Daniel Farke, so this could not have been a better start for me. That was also the step I was dreaming of, to be in the Premier League."
Placheta made 12 appearances in the Premier League after fighting off a battle with Covid that led to complications with his heart.
Overcoming that adversity saw him step onto a pitch with some of his idols at the top level, an ambition that meant a great deal to him.
"Playing in the Premier League, it's a great ambition and it is amazing to be there. But this is such a tough league to play in. I would say that it is the best league in the world," Placheta said.
"The quality in the Premier League is really high and I'm proud to have played in there, especially because I did not have an easy start at the beginning because of Covid.
"I needed to have three months out of the game, but I'm proud that I came back and that I played there in some good games at that level. It was always a big ambition to play against such players like Cristiano Ronaldo and Mohamed Salah who are my idols. That is something I will never forget."
