Norwich City centre-back Christoph Zimmermann is set to join Bundesliga 2 side SV Darmstadt, according to reports from the 29-year-old's native Germany.

Bild have claimed that Zimmermann is close to returning to the country from which he moved to Norwich five years ago, after struggles to find form and fitness have limited his game time since 2019.

The ex-Borussia Dortmund youth player is understood to be close to a move away from Carrow Road. City were open to selling him in January this year, but sufficient interest failed to materialise and they were unable to do so.

Zimmermann was one of the first signings of Stuart Webber's reign as Norwich's sporting director, joining the Canaries in June 2017, less than a month after Daniel Farke was unveiled as the club's new head coach.

The Dusseldorf-born defender had been Farke's captain with Borussia Dortmund's development squad, but was signed as a free agent after his release by the German giants.

After consistently appearing in a back three during the 2017-18 season, Zimmermann went on to play a starring role as City won the Championship title in stunning fashion a year later. He played 45 times that campaign, wearing the captain's armband as Norwich secured promotion to the Premier League.

It was there that fitness issues began to blight his time in yellow and green, and he appeared in less than half of City's games during 2019-20 as they finished in last place and regularly used midfielders in defence.

Persistence of these injuries saw academy product Andrew Omobamidele move ahead of Zimmermann in the pecking order in 2020-21, before the former Borussia Monchengladbach youngster made just five appearances last season.

Zimmermann's prospective departure would leave the Canaries with just three recognised career centre-backs as part of their first-team group, although under-23s captain Jon Tomkinson has been involved with Dean Smith's senior squad during pre-season.

Versatile defender Sam Byram also featured at centre-back last term and is seen as a backup option, although an injury-hit summer has added to worries that a poor fitness record makes him an unreliable alternative.