Norwich City can confirm the appointment of Dean Rastrick as the club’s new head of football development.
Rastrick, 48, began his career in football as youth development officer at Luton Town before moving on to Derby County as head of youth development.
He is no stranger to the Canaries, as he joined Norwich in June 2006 as assistant academy manager and spent four years with the club before joining Tottenham Hotspur in 2010.
Rastrick spent 13 years with Spurs, first as academy performance manager, before being promoted to academy manager in 2017.
Rastrick left Tottenham in the summer of 2023, and has recently worked at the Professional Game Academy Audit Company (PGAAC) as leadership and management auditor.
Speaking to canaries.co.uk, Rastrick said: "I’m delighted to be re-joining the club during this exciting period. I am grateful to Ben (Knapper) and Neil (Adams) for giving me the opportunity and the responsibility, along with Joe (Shulberg), to continue the player development strand of the club’s football strategy.
"We have strong foundations and a proud tradition for developing young talent and I am looking forward to working with the academy staff and helping to continue this work.
"Player development is a long-term project and, with the support of everyone at the training ground and Carrow Road, I am confident that we can create an environment for our young players to thrive."
Sporting director Knapper added: "Dean’s credentials and track record in player development speaks for itself. We believe that his experience and impact at the highest level make him the ideal candidate to spearhead our work in that area going forwards.
"The academy is vital to our club strategy, and that focus will only increase as we progress. Dean represents another great step in our transition into the next chapter of our club’s journey and we are all really excited to work with him and to leverage his expertise."