Town have confirmed the signing of Tranmere striker James Norwood on a three-year deal with the club having an option of a further season.

As reported earlier, the 28-year-old travelled to Portman Road this afternoon to undergo a medical and complete the formalities on a deal which had long been agreed.

Norwood, who joins Town on a free transfer, was the country’s top scorer last season with 32 goals for Tranmere as they won promotion to League One and was named in his divisional Team of the Year.

He becomes Paul Lambert’s third summer signing after the capture of goalkeepers Tomas Holy and Adam Przybek.

As previously reported, the deal has been all but done for several weeks that Norwood was Portman Road-bound but he spent time in Magaluf with his Tranmere team-mates and then with his family before travelling south today to complete the formalities.

Norwood, whose goals helped Tranmere win promotion via the play-offs in 2018/19, bagged 23 goals as they won promotion to League Two by the same route in the previous campaign and returned to the EFL after a three-year stint in the Vanarama National League.

Eastbourne-born Norwood, who is 5ft 9in tall, was a youth player with Brighton, Crystal Palace and hometown club Eastbourne Town before breaking into EFL football with Exeter, with whom he made three starts and one sub appearance.

During two years with the Grecians, he also spent time on loan in non-league at Sutton United, Forest Green Rovers and Eastbourne Borough, before joining the Green Devils on a permanent basis in 2011.

Following his release by Forest Green, the seven-times-capped, four-goal England C international joined Tranmere in the summer of 2015, going on to net 93 times in 180 games for the Wirral-based club.

Photo: ITFC

BlueArrow added 23:08 - Jun 10 Welcome to the Towen James live long and prosper
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Dozzells_Bobblehat added 23:24 - Jun 10 Ohmycampo- no , only you !
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harlingblue added 02:04 - Jun 11 Great news, welcome to ITFC James. Good to see Town addressing the problem areas so swiftly.
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FromIpswichToPhoenix added 06:27 - Jun 11 Bloody hell! Well done. Welcome home James!
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Dissboyitfc added 07:00 - Jun 11 Highest scorer in all four divisions, scores with both feet and with his head, what's not to like? But some will be disappointed because he is on a free transfer. It's all about recruitment and training.If it was only about the money Derby would have been promoted years ago! Genuinely excited by this signing! And sorted before preseason! I am not a fan of Evans nor am I a hater. But credit to ME and PL for getting this done, there would have been loads of teams wanting his signature. COYB's

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runningout added 07:46 - Jun 11 hope we don't have to rely on him and him alone. Still feeling unwell after witnessing last season
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dusty added 07:52 - Jun 11 It is early days of course, but I get the feeling that it is starting to knit together. Another two smart signings in the areas that are patently obvious, and it is possible that there could be genuine reasons to looking forward to the forthcoming season.
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Steve_ITFC_Sweden added 08:23 - Jun 11 On a completely different topic, if Matt Clarke goes to Brighton to replace Dunk, to what extent do we benefit? Phil?
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Bergholtblue added 08:26 - Jun 11 With him lifting some of the burden from Harrison and Jackson, we may yet see them shine next season. I think Harrison particularly has a lot more to offer. Just need to get this defence sorted.
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woohoo added 08:31 - Jun 11 This signing is excellent news in terms of building confidence for next season.
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midastouch added 08:42 - Jun 11 Get in! I think the signing of Norwood could be just what the doctor ordered. People say you can't read too much into YouTube videos but you can tell a player that knows where the net is. Go back to when we were first linked with Waghorn, at first I wasn't too sure as I'd only seen him play for Leicester a couple of times and didn't know that much about him. But as soon as I saw some videos of him I said he looked well worth getting. I've got the same feeling about Norwood. Oh ye of little faith was worried the transfer was dragging on too long and we might miss out but fair play to the club they've got it over the line. Very excited about this one. Think Norwood and Judge could link up very nicely indeed. If we can get more luck on the injury front and keep our key players fit next season I think we have a chance of doing well with the likes of Norwood and Judge in the team.

5

TractorBoyTommy added 08:53 - Jun 11 Cant complain about the signing, free transfer with low wages. Unproven at this level but worth the gamble. Although lets be realistic he wont be scoring many goals if we have no one to assist him. We need a creative player badly.
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WhoisJimmyJuan added 08:54 - Jun 11 Perhaps some hope post-Chexit!
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dirtydingusmagee added 09:11 - Jun 11 nice one, WELCOME ton TOWN, James, lets hope you will have a great time for the club, and score a shed load of goals for us. Service is still going to be a key factor though,something that has been very poor for too long, if that problem can be sorted out this could be a very good signing .
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DebsyAngel added 09:14 - Jun 11 Terrific signing. Really pleased about this. Welcome to the club James and hope you will do as well here as you did for Tranmere!
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IpswichT62OldBoy added 09:17 - Jun 11 YES, at last something to smile about.
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dirtydingusmagee added 09:34 - Jun 11 more constructive posts from Dolphinyellow, Only thing he ever says is to wind someone up, Obiously another little person with a complex.lol.
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dusth added 09:56 - Jun 11 i think the clue is in the name, ddm!
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yun added 10:51 - Jun 11 He reminds me of Kevin Phillips quite a bit, which is no bad thing. Based solely on goals per game over the past four years, this signing makes a lot of sense. Let's hope he can keep performing at the higher level .
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Razor added 10:51 - Jun 11 This is Christmas come very early but the best present we could ever have. Yes he can play up front on his own but pleaese Lamby dont do that---especially at home!! Have people around him and we will score plenty----see you all on the town hall steps in May
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essextractorboy93 added 11:09 - Jun 11 ohmycampo is a troll. Just ignore it people. Don't take the bait.
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essextractorboy93 added 11:30 - Jun 11 Great to finally get this deal over the line. Seems it has been sealed for a few weeks but obviously Tranmere winning the playoffs and Norwood going on holiday meant this was the earliest opportunity to announce it. I think we need a right back, left back, central defender and another striker, and possibly a holding midfielder.
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ericgatesrules added 12:19 - Jun 11 You are very welcome James. Does he get the No.9? Sorry if that's already been decided/discussed and missed it! Well done PL and ME (credit when its due).
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PackwoodBlue added 12:27 - Jun 11 The Name's Norwood, James Norwood. Must be a Bond fan with that number plate! ;-)
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Osbourne_One_Nil added 12:56 - Jun 11 Scored more goals by himself last season than Town did at home in the Chamionship ! I'd settle for a 25 goal contribution from him in our first ( and only) League 1 season
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