CITY boss Bryan Gunn says the ball is well and truly rolling as he and his Canary backroom staff prepare to battle it out in League One next season.
Speaking exclusively to canaries.co.uk, Gunn gave an insight into how dealings in the transfer market were going so far.
"We're already part-way through our preparations for things next season, in the hope we would get the job," he commented. "We've indentified a number of targets we'd like to have, we're speaking to representatives at the moment and hopefully we can then make some announcements. Certainly we're at the stages of discussions, and we're hopeful of bringing some news to the table as soon as possible.
"It's an opportunity to really scour the market and see which players are available. The ones we feel will fit the league and the way we want to play, we've identified the targets and hour by hour we're getting inundated with phonecalls from agents recommending other players as well. It's an on-going process, we will have further meetings in the next few days and in the next week so we can make our decisions on the way we want to go forward."
In the other direction, the former City 'keeper discussed potential exits from the Club: "Obviously the only exit at the moment has been David Marshall - Cardiff were very quick off the mark after the season ended and put in a bid which was acceptable to the Club.
"I have been speaking to a couple of other managers and some of our players' representatives, but at the moment there's nothing more to report. I'm sure there will be clubs out there who would be interested in our quality players, but I must stress we don't want them to go and we don't want them to go cheaply. If we do make the decision where there are any departures, we'll make sure we get the best possible deal for the Club."
Looking to next season, Gunn added fledging Canaries will play a role in City's 2009-10 campaign: "The likes of Korey Smith, Luke Daley and Tom Adeyemi are all part of our first team discussions, and for next season they've got a great opportunity. They know my thoughts about the introduction of young players as Korey and Luke have found out.
"Tom has trained with the first team squad since I've been involved as manager, and there's other opportunities for the other young players as well. I think the fact that they've seen the captain of the youth team make his debut in a very important game, hopefully the rest of the lads will get the feeling that youth will get its chance. If they're good enough to play in the team, then they're old enough to play in the team so age won't come in to it.
"All of the guys who are under contract have all been told the same message - there will be opportunities next season. It's down to them to go away, work hard on their training programmes over the summer and then come back to the fitness testing over the last few days of June and then the first official day of training in July. They then have an opportunity to hit the ground running with high energy and fitness levels, and physical strength too - League One throws up a different type of football which we need to be ready for."
Asked for his personal plans for the summer ahead, the Norwich boss exclusively told First News: "I've got nothing booked in terms of holiday, and the players have training programmes which we hope they'll adhere to.
"That will give them the best opportunity to come back to the first day of training and be as fit and ready as possible for the rest of the work we'll be doing. In terms of the backroom staff, we're constantly on the phone to each other - we might be in different parts of the country but we're in touch hourly and there are many calls coming in from agents and club managers.
"A lot of people have said I should try and get a little bit of rest because the rigours of being a manager, the constant speaking to people on the phone, it does take it out of you. But my job is something I'm wholeheartedly committed to, and my main aim is to show we've got a quality team to start the League One programme on August 8."
