Norwich City have confirmed an allotment of shares that will make 24pc of the club available to new investment.

Shareholders voted for the current ownership of the club to be diluted, with 194,512 shares made available for purchase.

As a result, all current shares have depreciated in value. Previous joint majority holders Delia Smith and Michael Wynn Jones have seen their stake dip below 50pc for the first time since taking the helm in 1997.

Nineteen shareholders attended the meeting, which lasted nine minutes at Carrow Road.

The allotment allows for the investment of new funds into the club, however, with many speculating that minority shareholder Mark Attanasio could look to increase his stake by buying them up.

Milwaukee Brewers owner Attanasio purchased an original 15.9pc stake in the club from Michael Foulger, with his place on the Canaries' board of directors confirmed at an extraordinary general meeting in September.

The allotment means his stake will decrease to around 12pc, but could increase his stake to around 36pc if he buys the new shares. An extra 10pc will become available upon trigger events via C-preference shares previously acquired, meaning his ownership could be more significant than that of Smith and Wynn Jones.

The Pink Un: Minority shareholder Mark Attanasio could purchase new shares in the Canaries.Minority shareholder Mark Attanasio could purchase new shares in the Canaries. (Image: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd)

The 65-year-old American confirmed in November that he was interested in taking that involvement further, telling BBC Radio Norfolk: "We're interested in getting more involved, but it's about what Delia and Michael want, what we want, and so far we're off to a really good start.

"When you're outside Norwich City looking in, there's been a lot of success here. This team can get to the Premier League, maybe it goes back, gets to the Premier League, goes back. I talk to owners of other clubs that just hope they can get to where we are here. Of course, this isn't what everybody wants here, but it's a really good base to work off of.

"You've got everything here that you need. You've got a forward-looking management, you've got great infrastructure, not only at Carrow Road but the practice pitches and great community involvement with The Nest. They have technology that we don't have (at the Brewers)."