Norwich doles out  £750k for high-tech SoccerBot360

Norwich City are set to become the first football club in England to install the futuristic SoccerBot360 simulator at their training ground.

Costing £750,000, the German-made technology features a circular pitch surrounded by video walls onto which a series of projectors beam simulations of match scenarios.

A player stands in the centre and makes passes towards the video wall with a football, which bounces back at them, developing reaction speed and decision-making.

The idea is to replicate the exact conditions of a match, when players have to process the quick movements of team-mates and opponents before making the correct pass.

As revealed by the Financial Times, Championship promotion hopefuls Norwich are set to follow the lead of several German clubs and academies by installing the technology next year.

It comes after their sporting director Stuart Webber recommended investing more in training facilities rather than always blowing the budget on new signings.

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Bundesliga club RB Leipzig and the Red Bull Academy in Salzburg are among those to have already installed the SoccerBot360

The circular training area has a 10 metre diameter and a 80 square metre surface, with the 2.5 metre high walls allowing 80 square metres of 360 degree High Definition projection space.