Norwich City’s superb Championship season hit a new high as Teemu Pukki and Max Aarons earned a prestigious double at the 2019 EFL Awards.
Finland international and one of the best free transfers in Championship history Teemu Pukki was named the second tier’s player of the season, beating Sheffield United and Birmingham strikers Billy Sharp and Che Adams respectively to the gong.
And the Championship’s 26-goal leading scorer was joined by City’s academy product Max Aarons, who was named EFL young player of the year across all three Football League divisions.
He pipped Derby’s Liverpool loanee Harry Wilson and Luton’s James Justin.
The Canaries double signed off a superb evening as the pair were also named in the EFL team of the season, while Jamal Lewis featured alongside them in the Championship XI.
Blades’ striker Sharp earlier added: “I was only expecting to be here to clap Teemu Pukki winning player of the season” – as he picked up the award for moment of the campaign, after breaking the English league goalscoring record.
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While Pukki picked up individual plaudits, he also admitted one of his natural rivals has been his biggest supporter.
Jordan Rhodes has seen his time on the pitch severely hampered by the Finn’s supreme form – yet Pukki has been pushed on in more ways than one by City’s Sheffield Wednesday loanee.
That included Saturday’s brace, which helped earn City a 4-0 win over QPR and took them another step closer to a stunning Premier League return.
“I think on Saturday at half-time when I got my goal, he was the first guy waiting for me in the dugout to hug me and celebrate,” said Pukki.
“Also after the game he was so supportive. He is such a really nice guy. It’s not just Jordan. It’s the other guys. It’s a really good togetherness in this team.
“But of course, we are both strikers and in every game, he was the guy who was supporting me the most.”
With Pukki now sitting on 27 goals in all competitions, he has already notched the most prolific season in English football of any Finnish footballer – beating the previous best set by Shefki Kuqi for Ipswich in 2004-5.
“I hope I can still add some goals to make the record even bigger,” he smiled.
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