Norwich City: Porto look to close out Sainz transfer.

Borja Sainz, the Norwich City forward, is open to a summer transfer to Porto. The 24-year-old’s prospects of returning to his first club, Athletic Bilbao, appear to have ended, with European Championship champion Nico Williams signing a new 10-year contract to turn off Barcelona’s advances.

However, the Portuguese heavyweights have made a persuasive argument to the Spaniard’s camp, with conversations thought to have picked up in the last 24 hours, with the assumption that the clubs will now reach an agreement following ongoing talks this summer. City turned down an earlier proposal from the former Champions League winners, and Porto’s interest was put on hold during their recent Club World Cup appearances.

Portuguese outlet The 30-time domestic champions are now hopeful of signing Sainz for an initial £13 million cost plus add-ons, with negotiations ongoing. The Dragons are in the midst of appointing Francesco Farioli as their next head coach, having previously had two coaching stints in Turkey that coincided with Sainz’s time at Giresunspor.

Stuart Webber, City’s previous sporting director, took use of a relegation clause to bring Sainz to England for free in 2023. The attacker’s 18 goals in the Championship last season put him on the radar of several prominent clubs throughout Europe.

Sainz’s representatives were at Colney near the close of the campaign to discuss his exit strategy for the coming summer.

The left-sided attacker has 12 months left on his current City contract. Sporting director Ben Knapper said at the Carrow Road introduction of new head coach Liam Manning that formal proposals had been made. Porto and Italian champions Napoli were the early front-runners this offseason. “Listen, we’ve had multiple formal offers (for Borja),” he remarked last month.

“It’s not surprising for a guy at that level to produce like he did last season. There is a lot of interest from a few different clubs, but others are also circling. We’ve received formal proposals, but nothing has fully fulfilled our expectations.”The negotiations are ongoing.

Let’s see how they end. Of sure, he has a strong interest in the market, but it must be right for us. We, I believe, shown a strong ability to sell players at this club long before my arrival. It’s all part of our approach, and Borja will be no exception.

City are looking for a couple of reinforcements to Manning’s team in a variety of areas, one of which will most likely be a top-tier Premier League loan. Mathias Kvistgaarden, a 23-year-old Danish attacker who can operate anywhere along the frontline, is also a target.

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