Kyle Lafferty has seven goals for Northern Ireland as the country qualified for a European championship for the first time in history.
Yet he can’t get a game in the Premier League.
With just one substitute appearance for Norwich City, the 28-year-old striker has barely featured at all for the Canaries in league play. It’s been that way for the last few years, as Lafferty has not stuck with any club since he left Rangers in 2012. Lafferty has signed with Swiss’s FC Sion, Palermo of Serie B (where he put up decent goalscoring numbers in a promotion campaign), and Norwich during that time, also finding himself on loan at Rizespor in Turkey last year.
So with the Euro 2016 finals less than a year away and Norwich refusing to give him a chance in Premier League play, Lafferty is looking to move yet again.
“I’ll give it until January then sit down with the manager,” said Lafferty prior to Northern Ireland’s final qualification match against Finland with a spot in the finals locked up. “There is no point sitting in the stands or playing for 15 minutes when there is a massive tournament coming.”
It’s unclear where Lafferty could latch on for more playing time. He would likely find some takers in the English Championship and back in the Scottish league, but the question is will anyone in the Premier League bite?
“It is frustrating,” a conflicted Lafferty said. “I am doing the right things, heading in the right direction, but you can only do so much. If you’re not getting a chance and you’re doing the maximum, then you have to ask yourself a question.
“Norwich and the fans have been brilliant with me and I would be sad to leave. But I have to think about myself, my family, my career. If it is time to leave I will take the opportunity.”
