If anyone thought it was safe to come out from behind the sofa transfer-wise after last Friday's fun and games, think again.
In no particular order, the Canaries were today still reported to be in the hunt for the top scorer in the Czech Premier League – David Strihavka – as well as Dutch Under-21 international Maceo Rigters, while Dickson Etuhu was linked to an Earnie-like switch to Derby County as full-back Jurgen Colin was reported to be back on his way to Holland for a three-week trial at Ajax.
Little wonder that fresh from officially welcoming Jamie Cureton back to Carrow Road this morning, City boss Peter Grant was desperately looking forward to the time when the summer transfer window slams shut and he can simply concentrate on coaching football.
As it stands, however, there's another eight weeks of all this to go as the Canary chief looks to find a home for that ?3.5 million-worth of Earnshaw cash; plus the savings in wages the Welsh international's exit has prompted; plus whatever else he can prise out of Andrew and Sharon Turner if they get ever more bitten by the football 'bug'.
Certainly Grant did not dismiss either claim that Norwich were firmly in the running for the 6ft 3in Strihavka and Rigters, who shone in the recent UEFA Under-21 Championship as the Dutch Under-21s beat Serbia 4-1 in the final.
Indeed, the 23-year-old over-age player finished as the tournament's top scorer with four goals, and was the only player to win two Carlsberg Man of the Match awards for his displays against Portugal and then England, when his stunning 89th-minute overhead equaliser kept his team in the competition.
“They're guys that I obviously know full well,” admitted Grant, having clearly studied Rigters' form in the recent Under-21 tournament – his thumping overhead kick in the England clash was, in fairness, hard to miss.
He also bagged Holland's eighth penalty in the spot-kick marathon that eventually seperated the two teams.
“We've done a lot of searching over the last few months and we've watched a lot of games; watched a lot of players.
“But until someone walks out of this door with a Norwich strip on, it's always speculation.
“You get people's hopes up and then all of a sudden it doesn't happen. And I'm not into any of that. When they walk through that door, they're Norwich City players and that's the way we'll leave it at this moment in time.”
It was left to the Daily Record and Rigters' agent to lift the lid on City's possible Dutch swoop with Norwich reported to be the one club that is in a position to thwart Celtic's ?400,000 switch.
Gordon Strachan's Bhoys, of course, have the big lure of Champions League football up their sleeve – hence the suggestion that the Scottish champions remain in the box seat for the player's signature.
“I would hope to be in Glasgow on Monday and make a final agreement with Celtic,” Rigters' agent Tom Smit told the Daily Record over the weekend.
“It is my hope that we can agree a deal soon. If I can't get to Scotland right away, I'll be there on Tuesday.
“There are no other clubs involved apart from Norwich but Celtic are way ahead.”
The fact that the Canaries are little more than a 40-minute hop away from Holland is one string to their bow; the Championship could, equally, be 'sold' as a far bigger shop window than the Scottish Premier League. There won't be too many top flight scouts seeking out new talent at Dunfermline or Gretna on a Tuesday night.
It is, however, clear that with Earnshaw gone AWOL for good, Grant wants to bolt another striker on – he may, cash-wise, even have the means at his disposal to fight Celtic's fire with fire.
That said, he's just about to give them ?500,000-plus for David Marshall with agent Willie Mackay confirming to the Record that he expected to be in Norwich on Tuesday “to sign”.
“I don't think we scored enough goals last season – we depended too much on one person and, thankfully, Hucks (Darren Huckerby) came up with the goods when Earnie was out and young Chrissy Martin came in and scored a few goals as well,” said Grant this morning.
“We've still got Chris Brown to come in fully fit; Dion's signed again – so there's a big challenge there and I may even look to bring another one in there. Because I want to make sure that we've got people out there that are fighting for their place and they know that they've got to score goals to stay in the team.
“And that's what I'm trying to build at the club – a competitive edge in everybody.”
As for the latest Derby connection, Grant made it clear that Etuhu remained very much part of his long-term thinking. Having lost Earnshaw to Pride Park, he would be hugely loathe to see Etuhu follow suit.
Behind the scenes you sense that every stop is being pulled to stop that; that the Derby 'link' remains nothing more than a link.
As for Colin's reported return home, the arrival of Jon Otsemobor on a free from Crewe this summer clearly marked the 26-year-old's card that first team starts might be hard to come by after seeing Andy Hughes steal his favoured spot towards the end of last season.
Even if Leeds United follow up their reported interest in Norwich's jack of all trades, Grant still has a more than able understudy to fill in for Otsemobor in the shape of Andrew Cave-Brown – currently performing on the world stage with Scotland in the Under-20 World Cup finals in Canada.
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