Norwich City defender Max Aarons was the subject of late transfer interest but Daniel Farke joked he spent deadline day with his feet up on the sofa.

Farke would not confirm former club Borussia Dortmund were rebuffed over a loan enquiry with a buy option in the closing hours of the recent summer window. But the City head coach did reveal the England Under-21 international was again in demand.

The 21-year-old was previously tracked by Barcelona, while Everton, Tottenham and Spanish champions Atletico Madrid have been admirers.

“I don’t comment on rumours. That is not our style. It is also not very good for any other club who are possibly involved,” said Farke, speaking at Colney on Friday ahead of the Premier League trip to Arsenal. “The only thing I can confirm is there was not just late interest in Max Aarons. There was also early interest.

“I was quite confident we would keep him. Max is quite a key player for us. We wanted to keep him. It was never really a topic for us to let him go.

“Deadline day was quite relaxed for me. I was on the sofa with coffee and cake and the mobile in my hand to be in close contact with Stuart Webber. But believe me if you have Stuart Webber on your side you don’t need to worry. You can enjoy the coffee and cake.

“He is doing an amazing job. It was quite a relaxed day.”

Farke rejects any suggestion City’s record transfer outlay puts more pressure on him to deliver.

“No extra pressure on me. Not at all. We have the pressure to stay in this league. Nothing has changed,” he said. “I think we were quite good in this window. I can only pay Stuart compliments. But we are still working with the tools of a self-funded club.

“Yes, we had some incomings but also some outgoings. Ben Gibson and Dimitris Giannoulis are officially new players for this season but we brought them in last season with the money we got for Jamal Lewis and Ben Godfrey.

“On the other hand we sold one of our key players in Emi Buendia to bring in the other players. Stuart did a fantastic job with limited resources but I am quite happy with my squad.

“The club is in a healthy financial situation, even with the Covid situation and empty stadiums. The individual quality of the group compared to last time at this level is better. Even my younger players like Max and Todd Cantwell have a season at Premier League level under their belt.

“Last time around we signed players from the second and third tier abroad. Now, okay they are not proven Premier League players, but they are proven on the top level.”

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