Norwich City have reportedly had an £850,000 bid for striker Martin Paterson rejected by Scunthorpe United.

Norwich City have reportedly had an £850,000 bid for striker Martin Paterson rejected by Scunthorpe United.

The 20-year-old, a Northern Ireland international, is wanted by City boss Glenn Roeder to pep up his attack, according to national tabloid newspapers today - although reports said the Iron had rejected City's offer.

Scunthorpe chairman Steve Wharton said he was not aware of an approach from Norwich - or anyone else - and said Paterson was not for sale.

“Martin is not for sale,” he said. “We do not want to sell our leading scorer.

“It's not the same situation as with Billy Sharp last summer when he had given us two seasons of good service and was out of contract.”

Roeder saw Paterson score two first-half goals in a 3-2 defeat at Ipswich in December, before hot-footing it for City's late kick-off game at Colchester.

Scunthorpe manager Nigel Adkins is in the market for new strikers and has been chasing Dele Adebola from Coventry and Geoff Horsfield from Sheffield United, although money appears to be the sticking point.

Paterson has scored 11 goals for the Championship strugglers this season, having moved to Glanford Park from Stoke last summer as a replacement for Sharp, who had been close to moving to Carrow Road before opting to join Sheffield United.

His goals have earned him a first call-up to the Northern Ireland squad, thanks to ex-Norwich boss Nigel Worthington, and also appear to have attracted Roeder, who is desperate to solve City's scoring problem.

Roeder is selecting from a trio of Dion Dublin, Jamie Cureton and on-loan Ched Evans and while City lack competition up front, they are also missing chances.

The City boss has until midnight on Thursday night to strengthen a thin-looking squad, and has insisted he won't allow players to leave until he brings in new faces.

That could mean a waiting game for Rossi Jarvis, who has been linked with a move to City's Championship rivals Blackpool.

Reports in the north-west claim Blackpool boss Simon Grayson is keen on signing the 19-year-old midfielder from Fakenham.

Jarvis hasn't played since the 3-1 home defeat by Bristol City in October - under the caretaker management of Jim Duffy - and has yet to feature in any of manager Glenn Roeder's squads.

The midfielder has started five games this season, taking his career total to seven, although he played twice during a loan spell at Torquay a year ago then made 10 appearances for Rotherham before the end of the campaign.