Ondrej Duda has confirmed he will spend the remainder of the season on loan at Norwich City - despite admitting his parent club Hertha Berlin wanted him to return.
The Slovakian international’s loan deal was scheduled to expire at the end of this month, but the Canaries have agreed an extension with his parent club Hertha Berlin that will see him stay at Carrow Road for the last nine games.
Duda has made seven appearances since joining the Canaries on loan in January - and is committed to seeing out the season with his current team.
“Yes, I have extended my loan. Hertha wanted me to come back as soon as Norwich lost their chance of survival.
“I told them I would rest and enter Berlin in the new preparatory period. But since I have a loan, I want to finish the season here and help the team as much as I can.
“Even if Norwich lose their chances of staying up, I want to finish the season with the team.”
Duda has featured predominantly as an attacking midfielder and impressed on his debut against AFC Bournemouth in January, but has failed to replicate that level of performance since.
Daniel Farke has described the Slovakian as being worth ‘£20 million’ and praised City’s deal to sign the midfielder in January.
Farke expressed his gratitude to Hertha Berlin upon confirmation of the short term agreement.
“We grateful to Hertha for allowing Ondrej to stay with us.
“We know we’ve got an extremely important period of games coming up and we very much hope Ondrej can contribute to what we’re trying to achieve at this time,” he told City’s website.
City supporters are yet to see the best of the Slovakian, but will be hoping he can prove his worth in the final stretch of fixtures behind closed doors.
The Canaries faithful were instrumental in Duda electing to stay at the club, with the 25-year-old determined to repay the faith they’ve shown in their team.
“(They are) Fanatical. They know all the players. I really like this approach, because players are very much appreciated in the city, although as a team we occupy the last place in the Premier League.
“They haven’t written us off. They still believe that we might be able to stay in the league. They really cheer us on,” Duda told Polish outlet Weszlo.
The midfielder netted twice in an intra-squad friendly at Carrow Road last week, but he’ll be hoping to net his first in the Premier League in the weeks to come.
Read more from Ondrej Duda on his spell with Norwich City and future ambitions on www.pinkun.com tomorrow morning.
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