Orjan Nyland will reportedly have the option to return to Germany this summer, amid Norwich City's work to bring Angus Gunn back to Norfolk.

The Norway international signed for the Canaries as a free agent in January after back surgery had followed his Aston Villa exit, chasing full fitness as he provided cover for Tim Krul while Michael McGovern was injured.

Once the 30-year-old had got back into the swing of regular training, he replaced young keeper Daniel Barden on the bench as an unused substitute for the final 11 matches of the champions' season in the Championship.

He signed a short-term deal so is available again on a free transfer this summer, with Nyland understood to be keen to pursue the opportunity to be a number one somewhere and City also wanting to assess their options.

It's thought remaining with Norwich was a possibility but with the signing of Gunn from Southampton believed to be imminent, Sky Sport Germany report that Hamburg would like to sign Nyland.

Traditionally, Hamburg is one of the biggest clubs in Germany but they were relegated from the Bundesliga in 2018 and have finished fourth in three consecutive seasons in the second tier to miss out on a promotion play-off place.

The six-time German champions, who won the European Cup in the early 80s, came to a mutual agreement to cancel the contract of former Stuttgart and Bayern Munich keeper Sven Ulreich so need a new number one.

After success with Molde in Norway, Nyland joined Ingolstadt and impressed in the German second tier during 2017-18 following relegation from the Bundesliga, to earn the move to Villa.

The report claims coach Tim Walter sees the Norwegian's distribution strength as being ideal for his system, as Hamburg shape up for another promotion push with the hope that their 57,000 capacity stadium will be used by fans again next season.

We spoke to City's sporting director Stuart Webber last month, who said of Nyland's situation: “He must decide what he wants to do as well.

"I think it's clear Tim is our number one. And that's not going to be given up in a hurry, because he's been incredible. Nyland came back from injury and got himself fit but he is 30 years old, so he has to weigh up do I need to go and play regularly?

"That is a big decision for him. We've said to his agent, take your time, there's no rush. There's no rush from our side.

“Of course, we're weighing up other options along the way. But we'll see what happens. He's done well in training. He's a good guy, a good goalkeeper.

"He's someone we've liked actually for a long time before he went to Villa, when he was at Ingolstadt. It's not something that needs to happen incredibly quickly from our side, or his, so we respect that he wants a bit of time and he respects that we want a bit of time.”

Despite not playing a senior game since last September, Nyland has remained part of the Norway set-up and was an unused substitute during friendly games against Luxembourg and Greece recently.

VERDICT: Norwich have Holland international Krul as an influential number one and handed Northern Ireland veteran Michael McGovern a new two-year contract after promotion was sealed.

Norwich-born former academy keeper and loanee Gunn is understood to be close to a return to City, after a deal worth around £5m was struck with Southampton, with an initial payment of £2.5m.

The former England U21 international would provide strong cover and competition and potentially offer a long-term successor to Krul.

U23 talents Barden and Archie Mair are likely to go out on loan, after both recently earned their first U21 caps for Wales and Scotland respectively.

Scottish Premiership side Livingston are reportedly keen to sign Barden after he impressed during four first-team appearances this season.