Danel Sinani returns to Norwich City this summer after his loan spell with Huddersfield Town ended with defeat in the Championship play-off final against Nottingham Forest
Danel Sinani has revealed Huddersfield Town would have triggered a permanent option to sign the Norwich City forward if they achieved promotion to the Premier League.
Carlos Corberan’s side narrowly missed out on returning to the top-flight after a 1-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest in the Championship play-off final last month. As a result, Sinani, who is currently on international duty with Luxembourg, will return to Norwich this summer for pre-season training.
Sinani told Luxembourg media outlet L’essential: “Huddersfield had clearly told me that if we went up they would activate the option to buy, but that if not, it would be difficult financially. Now I’ve had a season in the Championship and Norwich know how I work, but I have one year left on my contract and I don’t know if they’ll keep me. I will know more in a few weeks.”
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Sinani joins a long list of Norwich players who will be returning to the club after loan spells last season. These include first-team players who like Sinani spent last term in the Championship, such as; Jordan Hugill (West Brom and Cardiff), Onel Hernandez (Middlesbrough and Birmingham), Bali Mumba (Peterborough), Todd Cantwell (Bournemouth) and Sam McCallum (QPR).
Dean Smith will assess each one of his returning loanees during pre-season but was impressed by what he saw from those players in the Championship last season, including Sinani. “A few have done well. Sinani is in the play-offs with Huddersfield, he has done really well there,” Smith told Norfolk Live last month.
Sinani played 47 times in all competitions for Huddersfield last season, scoring six goals and recording four assists. The Luxembourg forward proved he can handle the rigours of a hectic Championship schedule alongside performing for his country.
Overall, the 25-year-old played 56 matches for club and country by the time the play-off final at Wembley concluded and he has continued to perform at international level since then.
In Luxembourg’s two Nations League fixtures so far this month, Sinani scored a brace in the 2-0 win against Lithuania and played the full 90 minutes of the 1-0 win against the Faroe Islands on Tuesday. Luxembourg have two games left to play, Turkey (June 11) and Faroe Islands (June 14).
“I feel good,” said Sinani. “I got into the habit of playing high intensity matches. Obviously my body needs rest, but I’m coping well with the workouts. When you’re used to playing every three days, your body gets used to it too.
He added: “The matches are much harder in the Championship. I improved in the intensity of the races, and also defensively. And then of course, you have to work a lot physically in England.”