Huckerby hits back

Darren Huckerby has hit out at the breakdown of his proposed move to Carrow Road and questioned: “Just how much did Norwich want me in the first place?”

Manchester City agreed fees of around £750,000 (€1.1m) for the striker with First Division promotion rivals Norwich and West Brom but Huckerby’s hopes of a move away from the City of Manchester Stadium appear over tonight.

West Brom admitted earlier today they could not offer suitable personal terms and pulled out of the race before Norwich too admitted defeat.

The Canaries claimed Huckerby had decided to remain a Manchester City player, something the former Coventry forward tonight denied.

The 27-year-old, who recently completed a three-month loan at Carrow Road, issued a statement claiming he was “upset and a little let down” by Norwich’s conduct.

The statement read: “Both myself and my agent understood and accepted what sacrifices I had to make in order for this deal to go through, following our initial meeting with officials from the club last Friday.

“Indeed, Kevin Keegan was also prepared to help further in order to facilitate this move.

“I also spurned the opportunity to speak to more than one other club that wanted my services in order that I concentrated on trying to help reach an agreement to play for Norwich.

“However, it became clear, first last night and again this morning, that Norwich were expecting more manoeuvrability from myself and Manchester City than they were prepared to do themselves, to the point where I have been forced to ask the question: just how much did Norwich want me in the first place?”

Huckerby revealed he wanted to get his side of the story across to the Norwich fans who impressed him during his short time at the club.

He added: “I wanted to express this feeling because of the excellent rapport that I have had with the Canaries’ fans during my three months at the club.

“There was certainly no more that we could be expected to do to make this move happen and my one regret is that I won’t be playing in front of them more regularly.”