Norwich City full-back Bali Mumba is close to joining League One side Plymouth Argyle on loan, according to reports.

The former Sunderland prospect currently finds himself behind Sam Byram and Max Aarons in the pecking order on his favoured right side, with Sam McCallum and Dimitris Giannoulis favoured on the left side where he's deputised previously.

Now transfer expert Pete O'Rourke has claimed via his Twitter account that Mumba is headed for a season-long loan with the Pilgrims.

Any sanctioning of a move for Mumba would likely mean that City would have to replace Aarons if he departs Carrow Road this summer, as speculation has suggested he will.

Mumba spent the second half of 2022-23 at Peterborough United, having struggled for game time with the Canaries in the first four months of the campaign.

He made 13 appearances for the Posh, but couldn't stop them sliding to relegation and was sent back to his parent club before the end of the season.

The former England under-19 international joined Norwich from the Black Cats in 2020, making six senior appearances in the ensuing campaign before a serious ligament injury halted his progress.

Mumba finished last term with City's under-23s, but featured in the seniors' first fixture of pre-season at Dereham Town last week. He's made a total of nine first-team appearances for the Canaries so far.

The 20-year-old's exit would be the latest in a series of trimmings around the edge of Dean Smith's squad, as Norwich look to move on those who won't play a significant part in their Championship promotion push.

Smith confirmed after that friendly against the Magpies that this would be the case, and the departures of Przemyslaw Placheta and Akin Famewo have been confirmed since.

"The squad will need trimming," he said. "We've got 10 players coming back from international duty, so to carry that many going into the season is too many.

"But we want to give all the players the opportunity to start with. Will make the decision then on who we need to keep and who we need to move on."