Michael Bailey Norwich City manager Bryan Gunn may be desperate for a new goalkeeper but he will not call on one of his old rivals to fill the vacancy - Andy Marshall.

Michael Bailey

Norwich City manager Bryan Gunn may be desperate for a new goalkeeper but he will not call on one of his old rivals to fill the vacancy - Andy Marshall.

The 34-year-old has ended his three-year stay with Coventry City this summer and a trio of clubs - one from League One and two from the Championship - have registered their interest in signing the former Ipswich Town keeper, who rose through the youth system at Norwich and eventually replaced Gunn as City's number one.

But the Canaries boss has scotched rumours he would be interested in a swoop for Marshall - a move that would eclipse the raised eyebrows of fans when former Town hit man Alan Lee was drafted in on loan last season.

“Andy is someone I know and I spoke to him in the summer on a different subject, but my thoughts are that is not one I'm looking to progress,” said Gunn, who will be hoping to add a new number one to his squad before the end of the week.

Following David Marshall's departure for Cardiff at the very start of City's summer break, Norwich have only one goalkeeper on its books, 19-year-old academy product Declan Rudd.

Stuart Nelson's contract ended yesterday with no word on his future or recovery from a summer ankle operation, while the only other keeper linked with a move into Carrow Road is Birmingham City stopper Colin Doyle, a possible season-long loan similar to Joe Hart switch from Manchester City to St Andrew's.

The transfer window officially opens for business today and aside from the goalkeeper talk, City's search for a new striker is also a pressing concern - and a permanent swoop for Lee could still be on the cards.

Crystal Palace manager Neil Warnock effectively offered the striker to the Canaries yesterday - for the right price - while Lee seems set on a switch to City.

But Gunn admits the club will have to compete financially for his signature, be it to reach agreement with Palace or fend off Championship suitors.

“I did speak to Neil while I was on holiday and that was the subject of the conversation,” said Gunn. “We were aware of Neil's thoughts and now the public is too.

“It is one of many things we are hoping to talk about and progress in the coming weeks and if there is something that can be done on it then it will work out.

“The player wants to come her; we need to make sure that, financially, we can compete.”

One difference to the Canaries' transfer dealings this season will be chief executive David McNally, who has taken over from Neil Doncaster, and having had their first face-to-face meeting this week, Gunn believes City have the right man on their side.

“We are hoping to make progress on a couple more [transfers] this week,” said Gunn. “We've got David McNally on board now as well and we're working fairly aggressively together to try and boost the squad and be as competitive as we can for what will be a very difficult season.

“I've been very impressed with David's knowledge of the game. He dealt with the commercial aspects at Celtic as well, but he conducted a lot of the transfer activity at Fulham and we are very lucky to have him on board.

“So we're working hard and hopefully in the days and week to come we'll have more news to announce.

“We don't want to lose out on anyone and we're certainly trying to keep our cards as close to our chest as possible.”

The City players are back at Colney after their summer break, having returned for two days of fitness testing from Monday before the real training starts today.

“You can always mark the first day of preseason as one that's going to be red hot,” said Gunn, as temperatures approached 30C this week.

“We are all fairly happy with the shape, size and condition the players have returned in. I think that is a positive thing and the days have gone when players go away for the summer and do nothing. The modern players in today's game, they have their fitness programmes and they need to stick to them.

“The first day needs to be just topping up those levels and it is then a case of getting them up to their peak in time for August 8.”