According to claims from German website Fussball Transfers, as cited by Eastern Daily Press, Norwich City are interested in signing German midfielder Marvin Bakalorz from recently-relegated Bundesliga outfit Hannover 96.
The 29-year-old central midfielder, who is out of contract in the summer, has also attracted interest from Bundesliga clubs Augsburg and SC Freiburg, while Hannover are also keen to retain his services. (h/t Eastern Daily Press)
However, the Canaries are aware of the situation and manager Daniel Farke wants to bring the experienced 29-year-old to Carrow Road this summer, as he looks to build a squad capable of beating the drop in the Premier League.
Norwich City secured promotion to the Premier League as the winners of the Championship and the club’s links with the Bundesliga midfielder is a clear indication of the fact that they are determined to thrive in the top-flight.
Bakalorz is not one of the household names in the Bundesliga but there is a possibility that Farke, who was once the manager of Borussia Dortmund’s reserves, knows the player well from his earlier managerial days in Germany.
Bakalorz has enjoyed a nomadic career so far in Germany, featuring predominantly for the reserve sides of Dortmund and Eintracht Frankfurt earlier in his carer before settling down at Paderborn.
Following a fruitful spell with Paderborn, Bakalorz switched boats to Hannover and helped the club to promotion in his very first season.
The 29-year-old has been a regular for Hannover in the Bundesliga over the past couple of seasons but it is believed that he would be keen to try his luck elsewhere following the club’s relegation and with his contract expiring.
He has made a total of 87 appearances for Hannover in all competitions, scoring once and setting up another five in the process.
To put things into perspective, Marvin Bakalorz doesn’t have an awe-inspiring profile by any means but Norwich should look to sign him on a free transfer this summer.
It might be a bit of a gamble for the Canaries given that he is going to turn 30 next season and has never played outside Germany in his entire career but bringing him in for absolutely nothing should not do them too much harm.
Norwich are currently not crying for central midfield reinforcements but the Canaries can certainly do with some useful additions to their squad ahead of the Premier League season.
Kenny McLean, Mario Vrancic, Moritz Leitner and Tom Trybull have all impressed to varying degrees in the Championship this term but neither of them has any prior experience of playing in the Premier League.
Bakalorz hasn’t played in the Premier League either but he can bring in a lot of character and resilience to the central midfield.
The 29-year-old has carved out a reputation for himself in Germany over the years as a tough character with a strong mentality and good work-ethics, meaning that he can prove to be a useful signing for the Canaries.
The tough, tenacious and hardworking veteran has the versatility to switch between defensive and central roles in the middle of the park and Norwich can look at him as an upgrade on Alexander Tettey, who is going to turn 34 next season.
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Norwich have reaped rich rewards by raiding the German market for players like Marco Stiepermann, Christoph Zimmermann, Mario Vrancic, Tom Trybull, Onel Hernandez, Moritz Leitner and a few others.
Hence, there is every possibility that Marvin Bakalorz could be the next in the queue.