Norwich City cult hero Timm Klose admits it was too big a wrench to leave Norfolk despite the Canaries' relegation.

The Swiss centre-back came under pressure from his international boss to quit the club after dropping into the Championship but it was the love for his adopted home and the support of the fans that helped sway his decision.

'I am very happy here, I am settled here and even my fiancé is very happy here. We have everything we could ask for,' he said. 'I had so many talks in the summer. I had to speak to the national coach about the situation, then my sponsors, then in the end my family, friends and fiancé. What would she like to do. The talks with the gaffer were brilliant because they were honest. He told me it wouldn't be easy if I wanted to move. Not one moment here have I been unhappy so I had no reason to force it or to push to get out of here.

'When you look around Norfolk it is a great place. We have a lot of beaches here. I don't know how many we have been to. It is crazy, very beautiful for us. When I played in Wolfsburg it was more like a factory city, so that is a change for us. We are happy.

'After we played against Watford the reaction from the fans was something I had never seen before. We had to do a lap and everyone was standing and applauding and that was an unbelievable feeling for me. You pick it up, take it with you and try to give something back on the pitch.'

Klose's soaring popularity is aided by his social media antics.

'I just try to be myself,' he said. 'I am not like the typical footballer but that is me, that is how I am and how I live my life. Football players have a really good life but sometimes you can give something back. It might be funny, it might be stupid. If they like it and appreciate that then fine. If we can give a little of our life then they see how a footballer lives away from the pitch. Most of the time I try to take funny pictures or what I am doing to show them I am a professional.

'I am not really into this, 'I am better than you or I should be three Lamborghinis to show you how much money I have'. That is not me and that is not how I was raised by my parents.'