Norwich City are still hoping to return to the Premier League for the first time since 2022, with many at Carrow Road believing Philippe Clement is the man to lead the Canaries back to glory.

Norwich had begun the 2026/27 season indifferently, winning three, drawing none, and losing five of their first eight Championship games before the international break, during which head coach Clement must have utilised the three weeks to firm up his defence.

At the time, the Canaries had the division’s worst defensive record, along with Burnley, having surrendered 17, and Clement understands where he needs to improve if he wants to lead Norwich into the top eight this year.

With the three-week break allowing players, staff, and even supporters to catch their breath and reflect, some may be startled by former forward Christian Fassnacht’s recent achievements.

Christian Fassnacht joined Norwich City in the summer of 2023 for £2 million.

Back in the summer of 2023, German head coach David Wagner was preparing for his first summer window as Norwich’s manager after taking over in January following Dean Smith’s sacking.

Ashley Barnes, Kellen Fisher, Jack Stacey, Danny Batth, Shane Duffy, Borja Sainz, and Christian Fassnacht all signed for the club for somewhat more than £2 million, with Fassnacht coming from Swiss Super League team Young Boys.

The forward thrived in Switzerland’s lesser leagues before moving up to the top flight with FC Thun and then Young Boys, where he spent the previous six years before joining East Anglia.

Norwich saw his signing as a big coup at the time, but the 24-cap Swiss international struggled to adjust to the Championship’s ups and downs.

Christian Fassnacht struggled to adapt to life in the Championship with Norwich City, returning to Young Boys after 18 months.

Fassnacht made his Norwich debut in a 2-1 victory over Hull City, coming on as a substitute for the final half hour, and followed that up with another half-hour replacement appearance against Southampton, when he scored his first goal for the club in a 4-4 tie.

He had to wait until gameweek three to make his full Championship debut, and from then on, the forward was in and out of the side, never quite settling into Wagner’s starting XI on a continuous basis.

With competition in the attacking areas from Jonathan Rowe, Marcelino Nunez, Borja Sainz, Onel Hernandez, Przemyslaw Placheta, and Adam Idah, he would only make 19 starts in 40 Championship games, scoring six goals and two assists.

Norwich would lose to Leeds United in the play-off semi-finals that year; Wagner departed his position in the Carrow Road dugout, and Johannes Hoff Thorup took over, while Fassnacht suffered an Achilles tendon injury in the opening game of the next season.

Christian Fassnacht has broken records since returning to Switzerland

Fassnacht, now 32, is still a regular and one of the first names on the Young Boys squad sheet, having just served his country in the World Cup in North America.

With 143 goals and assists in the Super League, Fassnacht just became the player with the most goal contributions in the division’s history, having scored five goals and assisted once in eight games this season.

The winger may not have lit up Carrow Road as he or Canaries fans had hoped, but he has certainly found his place back in Bern, where he has been regularly prolific throughout his career.

Norwich City must rue the Christian Fassnacht blunder

With Fassnacht thriving in Switzerland, Norwich can’t help but ponder what may have been had things turned out differently during his time at Carrow Road.

Christian Fassnacht’s career statistics (all competitions) as of October 6, 2026

Team

Appearances

Goals

Assists

Yellow cards.

Young Boys: 321 110 50 31 FC Thalwil

74

21 1 9 FC Winterthur 50

11 4 6 Norwich City 50 6 3 5 FC Thun.

36

10

6

3. FC Tuggen

18 11 0 3

Despite only 19 starts in his one year in the Championship, Fassnacht scored nine goals, and if he had been given more of a chance to make an impact, his time at Norwich could have been remembered differently, and he could be breaking records in England instead.