Norwich City have agreed a deal to take Sporting Lisbon striker and January target Ricky van Wolfswinkel to Carrow Road, according to Wednesday night reports in Portugal.
Several newspapers in the country carried the news that the Canaries had brokered a deal in London during Wednesday to land the highly-rated 24-year-old Dutch forward for a cut-price move in the summer.
Lisbon have been in dire financial straits and the deal is expected to ensure their squad will be paid the two months of wages they are currently owed, even if they are only expected to pocket about 35 per cent of the full fee from the Canaries.
Former Utrecht and Vitesse striker Van Wolfswinkel had joined Sporting in 2011 for €5.4m – about £4.6m – on a deal set to run until 2016, with a buy-out clause of €22m – just shy of £19m.
And while City boss Chris Hughton's push to bring in the Dutch international during January ultimately failed, Portuguese sources now point to the 6ft 1in striker being a Norwich player come next season.
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