Philip Heise will remain in Germany next season, after securing another loan move away from Norwich City.
The left-back was signed from Dynamo Dresden for a nominal fee in January 2019 as he was in the final six months of his contract but has so far made just one senior appearance for the Canaries.
That was playing all of an embarrassing 1-0 loss away to League Two side Crawley Town in the League Cup second round at the start of last season.
He remains under contract until 2022 but will spend this season back on loan in Bundesliga Two, with Karlsruher, having spend the second half of the last campaign in that division with Nuernberg.
The German was only an unused substitute for two of City’s games in the Premier League and had made five appearances for the under-23s before going out on loan in January.
He set up three goals in 11 games but only five of those were starts as a poor run of form saw Nuernberg finish in the relegation play-off position. He then wasn’t involved as his loan club scraped to survival against third tier side Ingolstadt, scoring the crucial away goal in injury-time of the second leg to earn a 3-3 draw in dramatic style.
He joins Karlsruher, who only finished above Nuernberg in the Bundesliga Two table thanks to goal difference, after an away win on the final day when Nuernberg could only draw.
SC Krlsruher are based in Baden-Württemberg, in the south-west of Germany, near the border with France. Last season was their first since promotion from the third tier but they have mostly spent their time in the second tier since their last Bundesliga stint came to an end in 2009.
Heise’s exit comes at a time when the Canaries are being strongly linked with Villarreal left-back Xavi Quintilla and following on from Liverpool’s bid for Jamal Lewis, with a deal worth £10million turned down before the Premier League champions turned their attentions elsewhere.
It remains to be seen if further top-flight interest emerges for the Northern Ireland international, after Crystal Palace were strongly linked in January.
However, the Canaries already have Sam McCallum signed up, who joined in a deal reportedly worth around £3.5m in January before remaining with Coventry to help seal their League One title triumph.
In the past 24 hours Sky Sports have joined the media outlets to claim Quintilla will join Norwich, on a season-long loan initially but with an obligation to make the deal permanent for £2.7m if promotion is achieved next year.
Karlsruher sporting director Oliver Kreuzer, speaking to his club’s website, said of the signing: “With Philip Heise we were able to convince an experienced left-back to join KSC.
“He has already proven his qualities in Heidenheim, Stuttgart and Dresden in recent years, but then didn’t really get a chance at Norwich. That should change again with us.”
The 29-year-old, who often played on the left wing for Nuernberg, added: “Oliver Kreuzer and (head coach) Christian Eichner were really pursued me and were extremely interested in me. I didn’t have to think twice about that and I’m happy to be here now.
“I’m excited to get to know the team, the club and the city.”
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