After going at a steady pace for much of the January window, the transfer merry-go-round has whirred into action with real gusto this afternoon as speculation hots up over imminent movement ? incoming and outgoing ? at Carrow Road.
It has been a frustrating period for City fans but boss Glenn Roeder will be hoping to add two or three new faces before Thursday's deadline.
And with an Arsenal teenage prodigy said to be interesting the Canary chief, a free-scoring Championship hitman the subject of a near seven-figure bid and the Martin Taylor saga taking another twist, the transfer window is finally heating up.
Oh, and this is all without mentioning the possible exit of a Canary talisman; fasten your seatbelts ladies and gentlemen, it's going to be a rocky ride.
We'll start in North Lincolnshire and with City reported to have made an ?850,000 bid for Scunthorpe's 11-goal hitman Martin Paterson, Iron chairman Steve Wharton has issued a firm 'hands off!' warning to any clubs sniffing round their leading goalscorer.
The man brought in from Stoke for a tribunal-set fee of ?425,000 has impressed with his work-rate and prowess in front of goal for a side who sit one place off the bottom of the Championship.
And it now seems Roeder is ready to pounce in an effort to solve the Canaries' goalscoring woes.
But he'll have to do some serious bargaining with Wharton if he is to get his man. The Scunthorpe chief played hard ball with the Canaries over Billy Sharp in the summer and the Iron will not be letting their star man go without an almighty fight.
“Martin is not for sale,” Wharton told the Scunthorpe Evening Telegraph today.
“We do not want to sell our leading scorer. It's not the same situation as with Billy Sharp last summer when he had given us two seasons of good service and was out of contract.”
Much may depend on whether the relegation-threatened club can line up any sort of replacement.
Coventry's powerhouse Dele Adebola and former West Brom and Birmingham striker Geoff Horsfield have been strongly linked with a move to Glanford Park but with Sheffield United man Horsfield said to be stalling over his financial package, Paterson's arrival in Norfolk will not be straight forward.
Now to the outgoing door and talk regarding City favourite Darren Huckerby's move to MLS outfit Toronto FC refuses to go away.
The Canadian club's manager ? former Celtic and Rangers forward Mo Johnston ? did nothing to quash the rumours today after failing to confirm or deny Huckerby was all set for a switch across the pond.
Johnston has previously stated that they will not be bringing anyone under contract to Canada before the January 31st deadline ? all of which would mean Huckerby would have to somehow find a way out of his Canary deal, which still has six months to run.
Roeder denied any contact with Toronto ? or any other club for that matter ? yesterday but with ex-City stars Jim Brennan and Carl Robinson at the club, this particular story holds some credibility. But with plenty of red tape in the way, don't expect any movement on this one in the next 24 hours.
Any potential Huckerby exit would bear a striking similarity to Robinson's own transfer exactly a year ago and with the Toronto Star newspaper penning the headline “TFC appears set to ink Norwich striker Huckerby”, Canary supporters are in for a nerve-wracking few days.
A little closer to home, the on-off Martin Taylor situation took another twist this afternoon after it was revealed long-standing Birmingham target Gary Cahill was set to hold talks with the Blues over a cross-city ?5m switch.
The Aston Villa defender looked to be Bolton-bound yesterday after the two clubs agreed a ?4.5m fee but St Andrews chief Alex McLeish has stolen a march on his Reebok counterpart as he looks to bolster his backline.
Any such move could, in theory, pave the way for Taylor's long-awaited arrival in Norfolk but with Cahill far from signed, sealed and delivered, this one, again, has 'last-minute' written all over it.
But with ex-Villa pal Liam Ridgewell already at Birmingham, any smart money would be on Cahill joining his former defensive partner at St Andrews.
The Blues captain is certainly keen to renew acquaintances and has assured Cahill of a warm welcome if he makes the move across the second city.
“I'd like to see Gary join us,” admitted Ridgewell. “He just wants to play first-team football. It would be good to link up with Gary again.
“People make a lot about the move between Villa and Birmingham but you just want to play football. You just want to play week in and week out.
“That's what I wanted and so does Gary now and I've got on well with the fans here.”
As always, myfootballwriter.com will have all the latest transfer news as the clock ticks down to Thursday's midnight deadline. Don't go too far away folks, there's much, much more to come.
Tom Haylett
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