‘It was a lifetime goal of mine’ – City defender eager to take on Premier League stars
Ben Godfrey, right, celebrates promotion with Norwich City team-mate Jamal Lewis after victory over Blackburn at Carrow Road Picture: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images - Credit: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd
Ben Godfrey can’t wait to test his ability against the Premier League’s big stars with Norwich City next season.
The defender has played a major role in the second half of the Canaries’ promotion campaign, scoring four goals in 30 games, ahead of the trip to Aston Villa for the final game of the season.
“It hasn’t really sunk in yet, to be honest,” the England Under-20 international said. “It was a lifetime goal of mine and plenty of the other boys for their careers, to get into what is, in my opinion, the best league in the world.
“So what an achievement for all of us, I can’t wait to get started.”
The 21-year-old picked out Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero and Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford as players he’s hoping to take on.
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“The usual players like Aguero and things like that, with his finishing ability, but some have got some electric pace as well, like Rashford,” he continued.
“They’ll all be tough, (Troy) Deeney at Watford, there’s loads of them, they’re all in the Premier League for a reason. There will be some tough challenges along the way, I’m looking forward to it.”
Norwich City defender Ben Godfrey began looking ahead to the Premier League when speaking to the media at Colney Picture: Tony Thrussell - Credit: Archant
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The youngster, signed from York City in January 2016 in a deal reportedly worth up to £1million, was on loan in League One with Shrewsbury last season but has been part of the youthful streak to Daniel Farke’s team.
“Nobody could see it coming,” he added. “Especially after the first five or six games with the results that we had but we always knew that we had talent in the dressing room. It was just a matter of trying to get it to work and the boss found the solutions in the end to get us ticking and we haven’t looked back since.”
MORE: Canaries midfielder still savouring ‘pure joy’ of his brilliant promotion-sealing strike
The Canaries had only won one of their first five matches and Godfrey looks back on the 1-1 draw at Ipswich in September as a turning point.
“I think when we were 1-0 down in the derby at Ipswich, the crowd was loud, it was an incredible atmosphere,” he reflected. “It was a tense game and we ended up pulling a goal back through Moritz Leitner to make it 1-1.
“To move on from that game with a positive and then have the international break, we at least finished that period of the season on a little bit of a high.
“Then we moved onto Boro at home where things just sort of changed and got that little bit brighter and it clicked from there, beating them 1-0 at home and we never looked back.”
