Ex-City striker Jerome reveals late January bid from Cardiff

The experienced striker is currently contracted to MK Dons in League One and has impressed, netting nine times and registering four assists in 23 matches. Jerome signed for Russell Martin's side in the summer after leaving Turkish club Goztepe.

He joined a growing Canaries contingent at Stadium MK that includes Louis Thompson, Andrew Surman and Martin.

Jerome played for the South Wales club between 2004 to 2006, making 76 appearances before joining Birmingham City. The 34-year-old was keen to link up with Mick McCarthy and return to his former club, but Dons blocked the move after failing to sign a replacement.

"I had one or two teams in higher up divisions (contact me). I was waiting for those things to materialise, if they were going to, I wasn't quite sure.

"Russ said 'come and play until January' and that was the conversation. If something happened then we had a clause in the contract that would have seen me be able to go.

"It got to the later stages of the window where something did happen but I think it was too late for the club to find a replacement. It was disheartening for me because it was somewhere I wanted to go. It was Cardiff," the former Canaries striker told the EFL Podcast.

Cameron Jerome in action for the Bluebirds. (Image: PA Archive/PA Images)

"I started my career there and it was somewhere I wanted to go and it would have been really nice to go back there and finish what I started. That would have been the icing on the cake in terms of my career.

"I said to Russ that from our perspective nothing changes. It's not my first rodeo and I'm not going to throw my toys out of the pram and be someone I'm not. I crack on and see it through to the end of the season. Then we'll sit down and have a conversation and see where we go.

"I had no ill-feeling towards the gaffer. It's football. I've been in the business long enough to know these things happen."