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Brady’s penalty leaves Norwich City highest scoring English club at Euro 2016

Brady’s penalty leaves Norwich City highest scoring English club at Euro 2016

What do Barcelona, Manchester United, Chelsea, Borussia Dortmund and Manchester City all have in common? Their players involved in Euro 2016 have all scored less than those who ply their trade for Norwich City. Not bad for a Championship side, eh?

When Robbie Brady fired home Republic of Ireland’s second minute penalty in Sunday’s Round of 16 knock-out tie against France, he made City the highest scoring English club at the tournament. The goal followed his crucial late header in last week’s 1-0 win over Italy, and Wes Hoolahan’s volley in the opening week against the Swedes, taking Norwich’s total to three and earning his club a place at the top of the English scoring charts. Republic of Ireland’s ultimate defeat, followed by Kyle Lafferty’s exit the day previous and Sweden’s inability to get out of their group means this figure of three will not be extended - but it was nice, for once, to be at the top of something, however briefly it may be!

The majority of City fans were already pessimistic about the prospects of retaining Robbie Brady prior to the tournament and now, two weeks on, his departure feels even more inevitable. Demonstrating his versatility, playing in his natural left-wing position during the group stages before adopting a more central role in Sunday’s defeat to France, Brady was, for me, Republic of Ireland’s shining star at the tournament. The likes of Jeff Hendrick, Darren Randolph and even Wes Hoolahan impressed but, with two goals and four impressive performances, Brady was the stand-out performer. At just 24-years-old, Brady boasts the pace, ability and versatility that would present himself as a useful asset to almost any Premier League team. Thus, it comes as no surprise that the last 24 hours have seen the rumours of interest from Leicester City intensify. Whilst I am not convinced he is Champions League quality just yet, it is testament to his level of performance during the tournament, and indeed last season, that he is generating interest from the Premier League champions. Furthermore, if Claudio Ranieri can turn the likes of Jeffrey Schlupp and Mark Albrighton into world-beaters then I am sure he is more than capable of turning the far-more talented Brady into a top-four standard player.

One player that I don’t think Alex Neil will have to worry about a queue developing outside Carrow Road for is Kyle Lafferty. His fans, of which there are a few within the City fan-base, have constantly pointed towards his high-level performances at international level for Northern Ireland to prove that Lafferty was the solution to our striking woes. I’ll admit that I have rarely seen anything of Northern Ireland in qualifying, so I was looking forward to Euro 2016 to cast an eye over Lafferty - the player who, as he said himself, is apparently transformed at international level. Unsurprisingly, he has looked much the same Kyle Lafferty as the one who disappointed when given the opportunity at City. Having been dropped for the final two group games, Lafferty was recalled for Saturday’s defeat to Wales and, as he was in the opening game against Poland, he was ineffectual. I don’t think we’ll see him in a City shirt again.