Norwich City Still Have Plenty of Work to Do This Summer Despite Championship Success

At the start of what turned out to be one of the club's greatest campaigns in recent memory, more people expected Norwich City to be relegated from the Championship than promoted.

Nine months and 94 points later, not only were they promoted, they went up as champions - and they certainly deserved to do so.

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They were the league's top scorers, suffering defeat on just six occasions throughout the campaign.

In a league as difficult as the Championship, that is no mean feat.

However, as difficult as English football's second division is, it is nothing compared to the holy grail, the Premier League.

Once promotion was secured with a 2-1 victory over Blackburn Rovers at the end of April, all eyes turned immediately to the task at hand.

Staying in the top flight next season.

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The last five Championship champions all remain in the top flight to this day and Norwich have all the attributes to make that six in a row, but they have plenty of work to do.

One of the main things they must do is to make sure they keep their best players.

Young stars such as Max Aarons, Jamal Lewis and Ben Godfrey have been at the heart of their excellent year but, naturally, bigger clubs are now circling.

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They must retain the nucleus of the squad that got them into the big-time and the guarantee of first-team football in the Premier League should be enough to keep these players at the club.

Tying them down to new long-term contracts has to be high on the agenda of sporting director, Stuart Webber.

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However, keeping Webber himself has also now become a potential problem for the owners, with Manchester United executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward reportedly interested in bringing him to Old Trafford to be the first to fulfil that role for the Red Devils.

Success comes at a price and Norwich will want to make sure they are not the ones paying for their own excellent season.

The Canaries do have good form in not paying for things though, if free signing Teemu Pukki is anything to go by.

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The Championship's top scorer and player of the year was instrumental in his team's rise to the top of the league and how he takes to the Premier League will be crucial for Norwich next year.

As good as he has been for Daniel Farke's side, it would be a huge surprise if the club did not look to bring in a new striker to help ease the burden on the 29-year-old.

Leeds United forward Kemar Roofe and Huddersfield Town striker Karlan Grant would be two good options to add a bit of much-needed pace to the Norwich frontline.

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While signings are a must, it is important the club do not rip up the formula which has got them to where they are though.

Farke has been clear in his belief that promoting academy players to the first team is the key to success at any football club and bringing in a raft of new players will not help the development of those in their youth set-ups.

It is a fine balancing act and getting that right will prove to be vital if they are to be successful in the upcoming campaign.

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The foundations are certainly in place at Carrow Road for the club to have a positive tilt at Premier League survival and consolidation in the coming years.

Decisions made in the next few months will be the most important if they are to achieve that though.

The pressure is on.