Norwich City could be tempted to make a loan move in the closing days of the window for Leicester City centre-back Yohan Benalouane.

Italian football site, tuttomercatoweb.com, reported on Monday afternoon the French defender is in City's sights and available for a short term move after being limited to just nine appearances for the high-flying Foxes this season since his switch from Serie A club Atalanta last summer.

Sampdoria and Fiorentina are both interested in offering Benalouane a return to Italy, but Norwich are reportedly willing to match Leicester's €1m loan fee. The Canaries freed up a loan option after turning Matt Jarvis' initial temporary deal from West Ham into a permanent move earlier this month.

Alex Neil has since recruited defensive reinforcements in Ivo Pinto and Timm Klose but Norwich have conceded 11 goals in their past three league games and slipped to a 5-4 defeat to Liverpool at the weekend.

The Tunisian defender has made only four Premier League appearances behind established first choice pair Robert Huth and Wes Morgan for the leaders but did feature in both FA Cup ties against Tottenham in recent days.

The transfer window closes on February 1 at 11pm.