Norwich City player in overseas transfer talks to exit Carrow Road | OneFootball

Norwich City winger Christian Fassnacht is reportedly in discussions about a return to former club Young Boys.

Swiss side Young Boys are reportedly interested in re-signing Norwich City winger Christian Fassnacht in the January transfer window.

That's according to Swiss outlet Berner Zeitung, who claim that Young Boys have already held talks with Fassnacht about a return to the club, just under 18 months after he departed to join Norwich.

Fassnacht made the move to Carrow Road last summer for a fee of £3 million, reuniting with then head coach David Wagner after working with him previously at Young Boys, and while he admitted that his first year in Norfolk was "an average season from my side", he still produced some important goals to help his side reach the play-offs.

The 30-year-old started in the 2-0 defeat at Oxford United on the opening day of this season, but he has not featured since due to an Achilles injury.

Fassnacht is set to be back in training next week, and is expected to make his comeback for the Canaries in the next few weeks, but with discussions said to have taken place over a potential return to Switzerland, it remains to be seen how much he will feature for Johannes Hoff Thorup's side once he returns to fitness.

The winger's contract at Norwich expires in the summer, and while the club do have the option to extend it by a further year, they could decide to cash in on him in January.

Christian Fassnacht opens up on Norwich City future

Fassnacht recently confirmed that he is keen to remain at Carrow Road beyond the summer, but he refused to rule out an exit, admitting that his main focus is getting fit.

"At the moment I'm quite calm, to be honest," Fassnacht told the Pink Un.

"That's part of the business. Of course I want to stay, I want to play well. Hopefully the club says 'hey, let's extend the contract with Fassi and he stays for another one or two years'.

"But at the moment I can't do anything. First of all I need to get fit, and then we will see what's next."

While Fassnacht has not had the opportunity to feature much under Thorup, the Swiss international was full of praise for Norwich's new head coach, and he revealed he is looking forward to working with him more over the coming months.

"It's been really good, I like the way he wants to play," Fassnacht said.

"As I said before, I'm almost more injured than healthy, so I haven't had that much time with him on or off the pitch. So I'm really looking forward to the upcoming weeks and getting to know him better.

"It is hard, because you have to find the right timing to be on the training ground. It's not possible every time because you work with the physios, who have to work with the team as well. It's not easy to be around the team every time, but I'm trying to be there as often as possible."

Fassnacht scored an impressive 75 goals and provided 43 assists in 251 games during his six-year spell at Young Boys, so it is no surprise that his former club are keen on re-signing him as they plot big changes in the January transfer window following their poor start to the season.

Young Boys have won the Swiss Super League title in six of the last seven seasons, but they currently sit eighth in the table after winning just two of their first 10 games of the campaign, and they are without a manager following the sacking of Patrick Rahmen earlier this month.

Fassnacht previously stated that Young Boys would be the only club he would join if he was to move back to Switzerland at some point in his career, so he may be open to the prospect of a return in January.

Christian Fassnacht's Young Boys return could make sense for all parties

Given that Fassnacht has missed much of the season with injury, it is difficult to know whether he is part of Thorup's plans at Norwich.

The fact that Fassnacht started in the opening game of the season would suggest that he is admired by Thorup, but the Canaries signed two right-wingers towards the end of the transfer window in Ante Crnac and Kaide Gordon, and that may have pushed him down the pecking order.

Norwich made a big effort to reduce the average age of their squad this summer, and while there is no doubt that Fassnacht could still be a useful part of the squad, there are question marks over whether he fits in to Thorup's new-look team at the age of 30.

If Fassnacht is unlikely to receive regular game time under Thorup, then a return to Young Boys could be a perfect option for the winger, and the Swiss side would surely be keen to have him back considering their current predicament.