Norwich City could be prepared to cut their losses on club-record signing Ricky van Wolfswinkel and sanction a return to Sporting Lisbon.

The Dutchman was strongly linked with his former club earlier this week - amid speculation negotiations were underway with his representative Louis Laros - regarding an initial season-long loan deal with an option to buy.

Respected Portuguese newspaper, A Bola, carried a front page story on Friday claiming Norwich will demand in the region of £3.8m (5.4 million Euros) before considering a possible deal for a player who still has two years left on his existing Carrow Road contract.

The 26-year-old moved to England from Sporting Lisbon for a reported £8.5m in 2013, but scored only once in 27 appearances in a campaign which ended in the Canaries' relegation from the Premier League.

The Dutch international is scheduled to link up with his parent club next week when the majority of Alex Neil's squad return from a training camp at St George's Park after French Ligue One club St Etienne opted not to take up an option to buy the striker following a season-long loan spell.

Van Wolfswinkel scored nine goals in 37 appearances for the Greens, but St Etienne officials indicated they were not prepared to meet the asking price in the original package negotiated 12 months ago.

New Sporting boss Jorge Jesus, however, reportedly wants van Wolfswinkel to return to Portuguese football, where he enjoyed a prolific spell scoring 28 goals in 56 league appearances to earn his big-money move to England.

The experienced Jesus has ambitious plans for Sporting after signing a three year deal following a controversial exit from bitter city rivals Benfica, who he led to the Portuguese title and the Uefa Europa League final in both of the last two seasons.

Sporting finished third last season, a distant nine points behind the champions, but will contest the pre-qualifying rounds of the Uefa Champions League next month.