Max Aarons says he’s only thinking about returning for next season with Norwich City as fresh as possible - and blocking out all the transfer speculation noise as he tries to enjoy a short break.

The right-back has been linked with German clubs Bayern Munich and Bayer Leverkusen in the past week but the tale quickly evolved as reports from Bundesliga media swiftly suggested it is expected Aarons prefers to stay in the Premier League.

The England Under-21 international - who is on the long list for the prestigious Golden Boy award - has been linked with Wolves and Tottenham most recently - as well as Arsenal, Everton and West Ham previously.

“It’s kind of natural that, as a 20-year-old playing in the Premier League, there will be things out there in the press,” the Canaries academy product said of the speculation. “I just leave that to the people off the pitch, like Stuart (Webber) or the club, to deal with.

“I’ve just tried to focus on finishing the season well in myself and now going away, relaxing over the weeks we have off, and then coming in strong for pre-season.

“Anything else that happens or takes place, it’s not really in my hands. All I can do as a professional footballer is try to develop my game and come back sharp, come back strong and come back ready for a big season.

“I’ve got four years left on my contract here, so I’ll be coming back ready to go, ready to attack next year.”

Norwich players are expected to have a break of around three weeks as the English calendar adjusts following the three-month suspension of last season due to the coronavirus pandemic, with the EFL season due to start on September 12. The adjusted transfer window opened on Monday and is set to remain open until October 5, followed by a further two-week window for domestic deals.

Aarons only missed two games of City’s disappointing Premier League season, which ended in 20th place and relegation. He picked up five England U21 caps along the way, having been named EFL Young Player of the Season and included in the Championship Team of the season during the club’s title triumph of 2018-19 in the second tier.

City report card: City’s star man Aarons looks every inch a Premier League player

The rebuild is already under way, with seven signings already confirmed ahead of the new season, as well as January signings Sam McCallum and Melvin Sitti coming in after remaining with their previous clubs on loan initially.

Luxembourg forward Danel Sinani, Polish winger Przemyslaw Placheta, Danish midfielder Jacob Sorensen were all followed by the arrivals this week of US striker Sebastian Soto, Sunderland prospect Bali Mumba and Everton midfielder Kieran Dowell, as well as young midfielder Matthew Dennis after his exit from the Arsenal academy.

Mumba is seen as a potential right-back option, where Aarons faces senior competition from Sam Byram if the former West Ham defender can overcome his hamstring injury in time for next season as expected, with U23s right-back Jordan Thomas also making his debut at the end of the campaign.

Speaking to The Athletic, prior to Soto, Mumba, Dennis and Dowell being confirmed he continued: “As the manager said, we need some fresh blood, we’ve made two new signings (Sorensen and Placheta) and it looks really positive. They will definitely improve the team.

“We’ve got a good core group here and if we can just add some fresh energy at different points, we’ll be stronger than ever.”