It's one of those stories that just niggles away under the surface. That every now and again, pops up. It never goes away. Always ringing in old Ferret's ears.
Usually, to be fair, it appears in the pages of the Birmingham Evening Mail and this weekend was no exception.
“Meanwhile, Norwich are expected to pave the way for Youssef Safri's move to Albion early next week,” was the Mail's verdict on a story that has bubbled quietly away for much of the summer.
No-one every quoted directly, but it's always there – this time hidden in the 'Welcome Craig Beattie…' piece.
“The Moroccan's personal terms are not expected to be a problem with Norwich and Albion hoping to agree in the next few days,” the Mail added.
The fact that Jason Koumas is not expected to be at The Hawthorns come the start of the season and Julien Brellier most definitely is going to be at Carrow Road, help kick the tale along.
And while Koumas for Safs is hardly like for like, you get a sense that Mowbray will be looking for a little creative flair – someone to pull the strings Magilton-like – if Koumas manages to disappear to Wigan, Everton or beyond.
And, in fairness, the Mail story has a decent sense of timing, too, with Granty giving Safs that extra week off this summer before he re-joins the boys back in full-time training.
Which given that they started towards the end of last week, would give Safs' agent the few days he needs to make sure that his boy will be away and gone before he's officially due back at Colney later this week.
The Mail, in fairness, weren't the only ones sniffing around the story – late editions of the Daily Mirror last week were putting the Baggies and Safs together in the same sentence.
Not that it's a done deal. As the Gaffer himself pointed out, at some point someone has to agree a fee; that he remains under contract at the Canaries and isn't walking anywhere on a Bosman-style free.
At the end of the day, Dickson's one of the rocks that the manager is planning on building his season round; Brellier is not here to make up the numbers, either.
So unless the Canaries are about to go all 4-3-3 – and even then you could still get Brellier and Safs standing on eachother's toes – you strongly suspect that something is about to give.
As for Dele Adebola heading this way on a free – nah. That's a fishing trip by the agent. Run through your pegs for holes routine and if we all work on the basis that the Czech lad – Big Dave – is en route as he said so himself, so you've got him, Chris Brown and Dion to slug it out to partner Jamie and/or, probably, Chrissy Martin for that second striker's berth. Ryan Jarvis is also back from his trip to the Orient.
But then there was also Ipswich's name thrown into the pot re Adebola; that could be more of a runner. Adebola and Jeffers up front down the road? That'll be the boy…
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