A new deal for star man Borja Sainz has been added to the Norwich City to-do list.

That's according to Johannes Hoff Thorup, who says that Canaries sporting director Ben Knapper is "thinking about" the Spaniard's contractual situation.

Sainz has been in scintillating form this season, scoring 12 goals and claiming two assists in just 15 appearances so far. He won the Championship's player of the month award for September and has already got off the mark in November, breaking the deadlock in fine fashion before City's late collapse at Cardiff on Saturday.

He's also been the subject of transfer speculation, with former club Athletic Bilbao said to be interested in bringing him back to the Basque Country. That's led to considerations of his value, which is impacted by the fact he'll have just a year left on his contract next summer.

But Thorup says Knapper has his finger on the pulse, even if the head coach prefers to focus on football.


"I hope Ben is thinking about it," he joked. "I know he is. I'm not thinking about it; I never treat players in terms of how their contract is, whether that's salary or the length of it.

"It's just important that they are doing whatever they can in training and doing whatever they can in matches. It's the same with Borja.

"If I have to treat them in some way then I treat them like they're here on 15-year contracts, so that's what we're going to do with him. He's doing well, of course."

The 35-year-old called on his charge to add role model status to his game amid an injury and availability crisis that's wiped out multiple senior players.

"What we can see now, and what I will also expect from him, is that with some of the natural leaders being out of the team he can take another step in his development as a player," Thorup continued.

"He now needs to be one of the leaders in there, which is not normal for him. If you look at the number of times he's played 90 minutes so far this season, it's close to what he did last season.

"He's already taken that step, so let's see if we can take another step in his development without pushing him too much."