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"David Støihavka agrees terms with Norwich; now it's up to the clubs"

Tired but happy, striker DAVID STØIHAVKA is back from his visit to English club Norwich City FC. On Wednesday morning he agreed a four-year contract with the English Championship club - now it's up to the clubs to agree.

"We have been informed that David has agreed terms with the club. Now we need to come to an agreement with Norwich ourselves," said Baník chairman Jakub Kahoun. The club's top scorer last season has a clause in his contract allowing him to leave if a certain sum is paid, meaning that everything now depends on what the English club has to offer.

Støihavka himself was yesterday struggling against fatigue. "I'm shattered, it was a real marathon. I flew into London on Tuesday morning, then travelled up to Norwich and had a medical that seemed to go on for ever. I got to the hotel at two in the morning and we were still discussing a possible contract at three," said David Støihavka of his odyssey.

When he woke up the next morning, he was convinced that he would be going home empty-handed. But that day everything changed. "When I got to the stadium, it all fell into place: a fantastic, 26,000-capacity arena, wonderful surroundings and pleasant people who lived up to my expectations. I spoke to the manager, who had been assistant manager at West Ham, they told me they'd bought two lads and a goalkeeper from Celtic and that they wanted promotion to the Premier League. It was too good to refuse," he said.

As he himself acknowledged, if the offer had come from Belgium, Greece or a somewhere similar, he would be staying at Baník. "It looks like the squad will be really strong, with Venca Svìrkoš they'll be a real force. I felt it would have been worth staying in the league, but in the end I was swayed by the fact that the offer came from England, even if it is the second league. It's an enormous opportunity, and I take it as a challenge. At the same time, I know what a fantastic move it was to have come to Baník in the first place. Without this club I would never have been in the position I'm in now," added last season's 13-time scorer.

Now, he feels relieved more than anything. "A weight has been lifted from my shoulders now that everything going on around me has been sorted out and I can just concentrate on football. In England I'm sure I'll be able to learn a lot, including an even more professional approach to football. I'm not worried about the language, I already speak a little English and I'm sure I'll soon get used to it," said David Støihavka. He was also clear about his immediate plans: "I'll still have to put in an appearance at Ostrava, but on Monday I have to report for training at Norwich. Then in a week we go on a training camp in the Netherlands. And then it all starts."

Posted By: SCC 28 on July 5th 2007 at 07:34:42

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