Norwich City have completed their first signing of the summer, with Isaac Hayden joining on a season-long loan from Newcastle United.
The Canaries have an obligation to make the deal permanent should certain performance-related criteria be met throughout the course of the 2022/23 season.
Hayden has been playing Premier League football for the Magpies for the last five seasons, but missed a huge portion of last season due to a knee injury.
Eddie Howe then made the 27-year-old surplus to requirements as he plots Newcastle's future under wealthy new owners.
Hayden began his career at Arsenal, making his way through their academy set-up before spending a season on loan at Hull City in the Championship in 2015/16, impressing as he helped the Tigers gain promotion to the Premier League through the play-offs.
That earned him a permanent move to Newcastle United, where he made 171 appearances during a six-year spell on Tyneside. He signed a six-year contract at St James' Park in 2020.
The versatile midfielder, who can also play as a central defender, impressed under Rafa Benitez and has proved popular with supporters during his time at Newcastle for his tough-tackling approach.
With two promotions from the Championship on his CV, Hayden will be hoping to make it a hat-trick with Norwich next season.
Speaking about his move to Norfolk, the midfielder expressed his excitement at working with City head coach Dean Smith.
“I am absolutely delighted. This is a fantastic club. Everything is well run, it has got a good infrastructure and the stadium and the fan base is great," he told City's official channels.
“I am here to try to help the team get back to the Premier League. The facilities at the training ground are great and changed significantly from when I have visited before. I’ve also looked at our squad and I want to add to that and help get us promoted straight away.
“The head coach was a big factor for me. He called me straight away and saw that I was out of the picture at Newcastle. I had spoken to him a few times before and he always struck me as somebody who was trying to do the right things and doing things very well at football clubs."
It is understood that City's boss pushed hard to bring Hayden to Carrow Road, acting swiftly to beat off a number of clubs to his signature.
Hayden is Smith's first signing since he became Canaries boss in November, and he is delighted to capture a player he has admired from afar for a number of seasons.
“We’re really pleased to have the deal for Isaac sorted so early. We know of his ability and he’s a player I’ve been tracking for a number of years.
“He’s a really good footballer and has both excellent technical and ball-winning qualities. He plays mainly as a holding midfielder, is good aerially and we believe he can be very good for us in both boxes.
“He brings a lot of experience of both the Premier League and Championship. We know he is a really good personality and character and that will add to our group.
“The fact that he can join us at the start of pre-season is great. Overall, we’re delighted with the signing and look forward to welcoming Isaac to the group.”
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