City boss Peter Grant insists he has no knowledge of any inquiries for Morocco international Youssef Safri - despite reports of a three-way battle for his services.

City boss Peter Grant insists he has no knowledge of any inquiries for Morocco international Youssef Safri - despite reports of a three-way battle for his services.

The 30-year-old midfielder has been linked with a move to West Bromwich Albion, with some reports suggesting he would even team up with Tony Mowbray's men in time for their short tour of Croatia and Slovenia.

That theory may be undermined by the fact that Mowbray is now believed to have targeted Portuguese midfielder Filipe Teixeira, from Academica de Coimbra.

But Charlton and Southampton are also reported to be interested in Safri.

However, Safri was training with the Canaries at Colney yesterday after being given an extended break because of time spent with his national squad, and Grant said he fully expected him to be involved in his pre-season schedule.

Grant said of the transfer reports: “I've not heard a thing on that. I spoke to Youssef yesterday because he came back in a day early from the time we'd given him off. He says there's been no contact.

“Anybody that's here and training and gives their all will be selected and to be fair he's trained very well and he's part of the group this morning. And if he wasn't going to be part of the group I wouldn't have him involved in it.”

Nevertheless, Grant is aware things can change quickly - witness Robert Earnshaw's sudden £3.5m exit to Derby - and is reluctant to make hard and fast promises.

He said: “As far as I'm led to believe, Saf's going to be part of the group, unless I get a phonecall about something that I don't know about that's going to happen quickly. Who knows?

“If I told you Saf's definitely here, he's not going anywhere, I don't personally know because that's the way it is. I could say that about anybody.”

Safri joined City from Coventry for £500,000 three years ago and has made 92 senior appearances, scoring four times. He missed the end of last season with a hamstring injury and, though he spent time with Morocco during the summer, he did not feature in their two African Nations Cup qualifying matches. If he is in the squad for the finals, he could miss up to five City matches next season.