Ryan Bennett is surplus to requirements at Wolverhampton Wanderers but failed to find himself a new club before the Premier League and European transfer window shut. All is not lost for the 30-year-old, however, as sides in the Football League can sign players for an additional six days.
Bennett’s former club Norwich City are still looking to do business too, having recently been linked with a move for Manchester City’s Joel Latibeaudiere, so could a return to Carrow Road be on the cards?
Why Norwich?
The Canaries loaned out Timm Klose to FC Basel, released Sean Raggett on a free transfer and sold Ben Godfrey to Everton before the summer transfer window shut, so they only have Ben Gibson, Grant Hanley and Christoph Zimmermann at centre-back this season.
Hanley was left out of the matchday squad in Norwich’s first three Championship outings and Gibson played second fiddle to Godfrey before the latter was sold, so City could definitely benefit from an experienced addition.
Whether they’d make an offer to sign him permanently remains to be seen, however, as Norwich tried to bring in Latibeaudiere on loan and may only want Bennett temporarily too. Time will tell if they make an approach.
Would Bennett go back?
Possibly. Bennett doesn’t exactly have much else going on right now. The 30-year-old has made 92 appearances in all competitions since joining on a free transfer in 2017, but his last outing came all the way back in January.
Bennett joined Leicester City on a season-long loan that month and had to wait five months to make his first appearance. The Englishman didn’t impress enough in his five outings to earn a permanent deal, so his stock couldn’t be lower right now.
Back at Wolves, Bennett has fallen behind Romain Saiss, Willy Boly, Conor Coady and Max Kilman in the pecking order, so he doesn’t stand a chance of getting a reprieve under Nuno Espirito Santo.
If Norwich can offer him first-team football, he’d surely jump at the chance to move, even in the Championship.
In other news, here’s a list of every player Wolverhampton Wanderers have signed and sold in 2020/21
