Nigel Worthington was hoping for an answer today from Manchester City winger Lee Croft over his proposed £600,000 move to Carrow Road. Wigan-born Croft, 21, had talks with the Canaries on Wednesday and had a medical before returning home to think over the deal.

City boss Nigel Worthington was hoping for an answer today from Manchester City winger Lee Croft over his proposed £600,000 move to Carrow Road.

Wigan-born Croft, 21, had talks with the Canaries on Wednesday and had a medical before returning home to think over the deal.

“There's no answer at the moment but I'm hoping to have something to report today. But there is no hard and fast timing on it,” said Worthington this morning.

Whether the deal could be completed in time for Croft to feature in the City squad for tomorrow's friendly at home to Northampton remains to be seen, as Worthington admitted: “That would depend on how much training he has done with Manchester City as the Premiership starts two weeks later than the Championship. I would have to assess his fitness because I don't know how much work he has done.”

Croft will cost City a further £100,000 if they gain promotion - and they yesterday revealed they had been trailing him for the past year.

Worthington said his opinion on Croft had effectively been rubber-stamped by new first team coach Martin Hunter, who knows the player from his time as England Under-19 coach.

“Martin certainly worked with the player and knows his character and so on,” he said. “We have had him watched several times and Martin has added to what we saw at close quarters. We've been trailing him and his situation for about 12 months.”

The only concern for Worthington may be that Coventry, Leeds and Birmingham are also reportedly interested in the player, though Manchester City boss Stuart Pearce said Norwich had tabled the only satisfactory offer.