Norwich City are preparing for life back in the Premier League next season and Daniel Farke’s side are facing a crucial summer transfer window as they try and cement their top-flight position.

The Canaries will believe that they are better equipped this time around for life back in the Premier League after enjoying another dominant Championship campaign. The core of their squad is more experienced this time around and if they can keep hold of some of their best players they should be able to enjoy a successful return to the top-flight.

There have been plenty of other successful seasons for Norwich over the last 20 years, with the Canaries having won promotion on various occasions from the Championship and once from League One in that period. There have been a lot of quality English players to have played vital roles in those successes.

With that in mind, we have put together a list of Norwich’s top 10 English players from the last 20 years. Needless to say it was not easy, but do you agree with all of our selections?

Before we get into this list, it is worth noting that there were a number of players that were very unlucky to miss out and nearly did make on our selections. Those include the likes of Darel Russel, Jamie Cureton, Dean Ashton, Todd Cantwell, Nathan Redmond, Ben Godfrey and Cameron Jerome.

However, kicking things off here is defender Adam Drury. It would have been almost impossible to leave him our given the longevity of service and level of consistency he brought to Carrow Road. He managed to make over 360 appearances between 2001 and 2012 and was inducted into the club’s Hall of Fame in March 2012.

Drury arrived at Norwich from Peterborough United in March 2001, and he went on to be a crucial member of their back four for the next six seasons in which every one of which he made over 30 appearances. He helped them earn promotion to the top-flight in 2003/04.

The following two years saw his game time be limited, but following Norwich’s relegation to League One, he came back into the fold and was a key part of the side that earned back-to-back promotions to the Premier League. Drury was a magnificent servant for the club.

One of two goalkeepers to make it into this list is John Ruddy. The keeper was a strong performer for the Canaries throughout his seven seasons with the club and managed to amass over 240 appearances during his spell at Carrow Road between 2010 and 2017.

Ruddy was signed by Norwich from Everton in the summer of 2010, as the Canaries looked for a new number one for their first season back in the Championship. He proved to be an astute signing by Paul Lambert and he went on to make 45 league appearances to help the club secure a second successive promotion. The following term he proved he was a Premier League quality stopper.

The 2012/13 season saw his game time limited by injury troubles, but he still made 15 Premier League appearances and was a reliable performer when he featured. His form earned him recognition on the international stage with England. However, the following year he could not keep the club in the top-flight.

Ruddy was though an ever-present as Norwich clinched promotion via the play-offs in 2014/15, but the following season again ended in relegation and he made 27 appearances in the league. The 2016/17 campaign was his last for the club and he made another 27 appearances before leaving for Wolves.

Another player that it would have been very difficult to leave out for this list is defender Craig Fleming. He was an excellent servant for the club in his decade at Carrow Road and he went on to amass well over 300 appearances for the club.

Fleming was also another player in this list that has been indicted into Norwich’s Hall of Fame and was given that recognition in 2003 by a vote from supporters. He also played a crucial role in helping the Canaries earn promotion to the Premier League during the 2003/04 campaign, and he was named as their Player of the Year ahead of both Darren Huckerby and Rob Green.

The following year in the Premier League, Fleming was an ever-present and played the most amount of minutes of any player in the division that campaign but could still not help the club survive the drop. He spent the next two years with them in the Championship and eventually left the club in 2007 after a short spell on loan with Wolves.

Into the list here is James Maddison, and he is recognised here not so much for the longevity of service as most others are but for the sheer talent he possesses and the quality he brought to the Canaries during his time with the club.

Maddison was signed by Norwich from Coventry City in February 2016, but was initially sent back on loan to the Sky Blues to complete the 2015/16 campaign. He managed to make just three league appearances in his first year at Carrow Road and also spent time out on loan with Aberdeen where he managed to register two goals in 17 appearances.

However, the 2017/18 season would be the year he truly announced himself as a potential star. He carried Norwich at times in the Championship in Daniel Farke’s first season in charge and managed to make a massive difference for them in an underwhelming season. He weighed in with an impressive tally of 14 goals and eight assists in 44 Championship appearances.

The following summer, Leicester City made the move for Maddison, and he has proven to be an excellent addition for the Foxes and has gone on to help them win the FA Cup and also established himself as an important option within the England squad.

From one current England international to one who has the potential to be one in the future here is defender Max Aarons. He is the only player on this list to currently still be with the Canaries although it is going to be difficult for them to keep hold of him over the next few transfer windows.

Aarons has managed to prove his talent and developed into a reliable performer at right-back for Norwich after breaking into the side at the start of the 2018/19 campaign. The defender managed to go on and make 41 Championship appearances in which he scored two goals and provided six assists to help Farke’s side win the league title and clinch promotion.

Last season, Aarons showed he has the ability to play in the Premier League and when he was at his best was a brilliant performer for the Canaries once again. He managed to make 36 appearances in the league but could not help them survive the drop.

This term, Aarons has once again been a crucial part of the side as they have once again claimed the league title and shown that they are a class above the Championship. At the age of just 21, the defender has achieved a lot of success and he should only continue to improve.

The next player on the list is someone who perhaps some would not have included. However, Jonny Howson deserves to be featured having been an excellent performer for the Canaries during his five-year spell at Carrow Road making over 180 appearances and scoring 20 goals.

Howson was signed by the Canaries from Leeds United in January 2012 and he had to wait until March to make his debut because of an injury. However, when he recovered he was in great form making 11 appearances and playing a key role in helping them stay in the Premier League.

The following two seasons saw the midfielder continue to be an important part of the side in the Premier League and he managed to weigh in with two goals in both the 2012/13 and 2013/14 campaigns. However, he could not prevent them from being relegated in the latter season.

In 2014/15, Howson managed to fire in nine goals in all competitions to play a key role in their promotion back to the Premier League.

He remained a key player the following season, but despite adding four goals in 39 appearances in all competitions he could not help to keep the Canaries up. The 2016/17 season saw him score six league goals and would prove to be his last term before he left for Middlesbrough.

A player who also makes this list for very similar reasons to Howson is fellow midfielder Bradley Johnson. He was an excellent servant at Carrow Road and managed to make over 150 appearances for the club and weighed in with some vital goals at times as well.

Johnson, like Howson, was also brought into the club from Leeds making the switch in the summer of 2011. He was a decent performer for them in the Premier League in his first season and he managed to score twice in 28 league games to help the Canaries survive the drop. The following year the midfielder was even more involved making 37 league appearances and being crucial throughout the season.

However, he was unable to help the Canaries remain in the Premier League in the 2013/14 season despite going on to score three goals in 32 appearances. He would come into his own the next term though managing to play a pivotal role in their promotion campaign with his impressive tally of 15 goals in 45 appearances. Johnson was then sold to Derby County in the summer of 2015.

The second goalkeeper to make this list is Rob Green, and he is another player that has managed to prove himself to be worthy of recognition at international with England during his career and even started for them in a World Cup back in 2010. He makes this list having made over 240 appearances for the Canaries.

Green started his career with Norwich and he had been given a handful of first-team chances before making his real breakthrough during the 2001/02 season. He went on to make 47 appearances in all competitions that term and showed the quality that he possessed. The following year he continued to be their number one and managed to be an ever-present for them as they finished 8th.

The keeper would play a starring role in their promotion-winning campaign under Nigel Worthington the following season and was again an ever-present as they won the league title. Despite impressing in the Premier League, Green was unable to keep them in the division in 2004/05.

After one more season with Norwich in the Championship in 2005/06, West Ham brought him back to the top-flight in 2006 and that is where he remained the majority of the rest of his career.

It would have been impossible not to have included Darren Huckerby on this list given how exceptional he was for the Canaries throughout his time at Carrow Road. He managed to amass over 170 appearances for the club and became one of the fans’ firm favourites.

Huckerby arrived at Norwich from Manchester City in 2003 initially on a three-month loan, before that was converted into a permanent one in December. The attacker made an instant impact at Carrow Road and fired in 14 goals in 36 appearances in the Championship in the 2003/04 campaign to help them earn promotion. That saw him come runner up for their Player of the Year award.

The following season, Huckerby was named Player of the Year after he had scored six Premier League goals but that was not enough to keep them in the top-flight. He was though inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2004. The three campaigns, the attacker was a crucial member of the side in the Championship, but he eventually left in the summer of 2008.

Huckerby is one of the club’s finest ever English players though, not just in the last 20 years.

Rounding off the list in style here is arguably the best English player to have played for Norwich in the last 20 years in the shape of Grant Holt. The forward simply had to be included for the excellent performances he produced and for the role he played in various successful campaigns.

Holt was signed by Norwich in the summer of 2009 from Shrewsbury Town as the Canaries were aiming to adjust to life in League One. Thanks to the forward they would not have to spend too long in the third tier and he fired in an impressive tally of 24 league goals and 30 in all competitions to help them earn promotion back to the Championship.

The following year, Holt continued his goal-scoring exploits and fired in another 21 league goals to help the Canaries secure back-to-back promotions. Unsurprisingly he was named the club’s Player of the Year for the second successive season.

The question remained though, could he perform in the top-flight? The answer was emphatic and he fired in 15 league goals in 17 in all competitions to help them survive. The following year, Holt bagged another eight league goals to help the Canaries to an 11th placed finish. He was also inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2012. However, he left that summer to sign for Wigan Athletic.