Derby County forward Liam Dickinson could become the Canaries fourth signing of the summer after Rams' director of football Adam Pearson confirmed that the 23-year-old would – in every probability – be going out on loan to League One next season.
In what is fast proving a busy week for the Canaries, ex-Hartlepool skipper Michael Neslon today put his honeymoon on hold to sign a two-year deal with the Norfolk club.
And with Owain Tudur Jones already in the building following his switch from Swansea earlier in the week, so Bryan Gunn's summer rebuilding plans are coming on nicely.
Three fresh faces in before the start of pre-season training and with the prospect of a fourth gaining ground – that doesn't happen every summer.
“There are bits of interest in Liam,” confirmed Pearson today, “but I think at this stage, it could well be that he goes out on loan for another year.”
The point of interest about Dickinson is his height – 6ft 4in. That and the fact that the City chief has yet to make a move in that forward department. Two new bodies for central midfield, a no-nonsense centre-half, but still that large situation vacant up top.
Should Dickinson prove the one to fill that gap then Carrow Road is fast becoming the land of the giants with Matt Gill being the smallest of City's new recruits at 5ft 11in. Otherwise, everyone else is a big unit – with both Tudur Jones and Nelson comfortably topping that six-foot mark.
Little wonder that the Rams are already fending off interest from other Championship clubs in Dickinson – and why they might be more than happy for Norwich to smooth away a few of his rougher edges in the league below.
“There is certainly a lot of interest at the bottom end of the Championship to buy him ? but not at a price that we think is right,” Pearson told the Derby Telegraph today.
The other point, of course, is that if Dickinson can start to score goals in League One on a plentiful basis then the Rams have that much more chance of recouping the ?750,000 they paid Stockport for his services this time last summer.
Stuck in a queue behind Rob Hulse, Chris Porter, Kris Commons, Steve Davies and Luke Varney, Rams chief Nigel Clough is clearly happy for the strapping striker to put himself firmly in the shop window away from Pride Park.
“If we loan him out, we might want to put him into League One, where we think he will score a lot of goals and his value will go up,” added Pearson.
“Would he be part of the plans here? It's doubtful, because he would be fifth or sixth choice striker and that is no good for Liam at the moment.”
With Charlton playing down their interest in the lad and the start of pre-season little more than ten days away, so the Canaries could find themselves at the head of the queue for a player who – on paper – could prove to be the perfect foil for ex-Essex scaffolder Cody McDonald.
Nelson was under few illusions as to what he brought to the party – rugged defending of the Old School variety. He also looks to be the 'leader of men' that Gunn insisted was his first priority this summer following events at The Valley where genuine leaders were all too absent.
“I don't try and complicate things,” Nelson told reporterws on his arrival at Carrow Road. “I head it and kick it when it needs to be and, hopefully, enforce myself on the team and the opposition and be able to dominate the centre forward I'm playing against.”
Scunthorpe where also interested in his services; they had Championship football on the table only for City's facilities and the presence of an Ian Butterworth on the coaching staff to help swing Nelson's decision.
“I went to have a look around a Championship club came and had a look around here and I made my decision,” said Nelson. “I don't think I'll regret it.
“I think once you come down here the club doesn't really need selling to you. You have a look round the stadium and around the training ground and it speaks for itself.”
In the meantime, if Dickinson were heading Norfolk way, so one ex-Canary looks set to be making the journey in the opposite direction with Pearson today confirming that Lee Croft was all-but a Rams player.
Pearson said that the deal to sign City's Player of the Season is as good as done. He told BBC Radio Derby: “Lee will join us next week when he comes back from Egypt.”
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