After months of intense speculation and debate, Sean Raggett has signed for Championship side Norwich City, but he returns to Lincoln for an immediate loan spell until January.
As the weeks have rumbled on it always looked as if one of our best players from last season was on the move, and today it has been confirmed. Norwich have been suitors all pre-season, and despite interest from the likes of West Brom and Sunderland, Norfolk did seem like a sensible destination for Raggs. The fee, as ever, is undisclosed. Dover are due a 25% cut of it, but we are also due the same from any future move Sean Raggett makes.
This is the bit where a newspaper tells you who he signed from and what he’s done for us. You know all of that, so I won’t bother. What I will say is Sean’s actions in the last couple of weeks have been superb, and top-flight players might want to take a leaf out of his book.
He was advised ahead of the season not to play for Lincoln. The reason? By turning out in the red and white it meant a club could not sign him and loan him anywhere else. Perhaps Sunderland would have liked to buy him and send him to Bury for instance, but FA rules state you can only play for two professional clubs in a single season. By turning out for City Sean ensured that if he did move then the only place he could come back is Sincil Bank. I’m sure he didn’t do it with that in mind though, he played because he is a good, honest man who has shown the same respect to us as a club that we have shown to him.
This is how transfers should be conducted, this is how players should conduct themselves and for Lincoln City this is perhaps the best we could have hoped for. Sean Raggett, in my opinion, will be in the Norwich first team come March of this season, and could well emulate Gareth McAuley in playing Premier League football after making his Football League debut with Lincoln City. He is that good, and whoever negotiated the return on loan as well as a fee deserves a slap on the back.
I hope the loan has cost us a little too, because in essence that would erode Dover’s cut, and the nasty element in me doesn’t want them to get as much after we were stitched up at the tribunal. However, they did raise Sean in footballing terms and they do deserve some further recompense from us for that. I may not like Jim Parmenter, but the youth set up and Dover nurtured Raggs and they don’t deserve to miss out on some of the crumbs from the deal.
Danny can now add to his kitty for the ‘silly-season’ of transfers, but also plan for the next six months with our brightest centre half committed to Lincoln City. The Sean Raggett saga might be over, but that six-figure boost means the rumours, recommendations and motorway miles will not end for another 12 days at least.
The best we could hope for and so right about Sean and his professional conduct an exception now in football. Also bought A City United yesterday top read!
Yes. Spot on. Given that he was going to leave, this feels as close to the best we could have hoped for.
Given the way certain premiership players have carried on the last few weeks, the integrity Sean has shown, to, I think, the benfit of his long term career, has been exemplary. Delighted we have him for a few more months on his path to the higher levels of the English game.