After a strong resurgence in the final months of the 2025/26 Championship season, many will be interested to watch how Norwich City performs in their first pre-season under Philippe Clement’s direction.

The Canaries were in the bottom three of the second division when the Belgian took over in November, replacing Liam Manning in the dugout after the Norwich-born man was unable to turn the tide at Carrow Road.

Norwich have now spent four seasons outside of the Premier League, the longest amount of time without top-flight football as a club since the late 2000s and early 2010s, and as a result, they are sometimes characterised as a ‘yo-yo’ team between the top two levels of the English pyramid.

However, the former Club Brugge, AS Monaco, and Rangers head coach has certainly restored a sense of belief and hype to the Norfolk outfit, which were able to finish in the Championship’s top half by following the lead of eventually controversial play-off finishers Southampton, by embarking on a massive wave of momentum under a newly-appointed figure from mid-season onwards.

A ninth-place finish, just eight points behind eventual play-off winners Hull City, was also achieved despite the loss of Championship goalscoring supremo Josh Sargent to MLS club Toronto FC and a serious injury crisis throughout Clement’s team.

This includes left-back, where only Ben Chrisene is now regarded as a natural choice despite a plethora of adaptable characters in Norwich’s backline.

As a result of an unsettling financial situation at the MKM Stadium following promotion, City have been connected with a transfer for Hull’s Ryan Giles, but a recent update has dealt a significant blow to the current Championship side.

Hull City deliver Norwich City a huge blow in their chase of Ryan Giles.

Indeed, Giles has had a mixed two-and-a-half year spell at the MKM Stadium, having joined on loan from Luton Town in February 2024, while the Tigers were still managed by Liam Rosenior.

Despite the fact that Rosenior was fired and replaced by Tim Walter, Giles was signed on a permanent basis for £4 million before suffering for form and minutes under the German and his replacement, Ruben Selles, in the later half of 2024.

The Telford-born full-back then returned to his former loan club, Middlesbrough, under Michael Carrick for a second time, but was unable to make an impact at the Riverside Stadium, forcing him to return to Hull under questionable circumstances a year ago.

However, under Sergej Jakirovic, the Wolves academy graduate has been revitalised, playing 37 times in all competitions and providing eight assists, the most of which went to City’s top scorer, Oli McBurnie.

Pete O’Rourke claimed on Saturday that Norwich were looking into a move for the 26-year-old, with it well documented that Hull need to generate £6 million in funds by June 30th to avoid a potential points deduction next season due to an overspend in violation of the EFL’s PSR regulations as a result of promotion bonuses.

However, while some players’ futures are unknown as a result, Hull Live reports that Giles’ is not, as he expects to remain in HU3 ahead of the next season, as evidenced by a pretty timely message on his Instagram story.

Ryan Giles’ position is expected, despite Norwich City interest.

There is no doubt that Giles would be a fantastic signing for Norwich in the Championship, especially with many predicting a successful season for the Canaries.

However, the full-back’s present view on the topic is unsurprising, given that he has only made 11 Premier League games for Luton while playing for nearly 200 clubs in the Championship on permanent or loan terms.

Clement’s ambitions, however, are obvious when it comes to overhauling a defence that conceded 56 goals in 46 games last season, with Brazilian defender Bruno Alves already joined on loan from Cruzeiro with a one-year option to buy.