Chris Hughton would happily scrap the January transfer window to focus on Norwich City's Premier League survival.

The Canaries' chief views the annual circus as an unwanted distraction in his bid to secure a fourth consecutive season of top flight football at Carrow Road.

'It would be nice if we could scrap it,' he said. 'The January window is one we have got used to and it will benefit some clubs more than others if they do the right deals but it is a disruptive period half-way through a season when as a manager all you really want to be doing is concentrating on games, preparing teams and picking up results. I don't want to be spending an awful lot of time on phone calls about players. I think managers would enjoy it not being there.'

Italian international defender Andrea Ranocchia is the latest addition linked to the club with reports in Italy claiming City have made an £8.3m move for the Inter Milan defender who is approaching the final year of his current deal at the San Siro giants. Ronacchia is reportedly attracting interest from Premier League rivals Chelsea and German powerhouses Borussia Dortmund. Jonny Heitinga, Wilfried Zaha and Jonas Gutierrez have all been touted as players Hughton wants to bring to Norfolk and the Norwich boss predicts that speculation is set to increase over the rest of this month.

'You have to accept that because as we go further into the window there'll be a lot more names linked,' he said. 'We are working hard but if you look at the amount of business done in this window so far it is an indication of how tough it is. This is a difficult period. We have done plenty of work but they have to be the right decisions for us.

'If you talk about people like Zaha that is a natural one because it is not only in those wide areas but across midfield where we have had difficulties. There will obviously be name association and position association and we have to expect that. I work very closely together with the chief executive and myself and my scouting staff will identify and recommend players over a period of time that we would possibly like to have an interest in. Then it becomes club business to work further and take that on.'