Ben Knapper has drawn up a January target list, and new Norwich City figurehead Mark Attanasio has given him the green light to step up the chase.

The US-based businessman paid a flying visit to Norfolk around the annual general meeting, which included discussions with the sporting director on his strategy for the upcoming window.

Attanasio revealed after the shareholder gathering Knapper is keen to bolster Johannes Hoff Thorup’s squad.

“Nobody maybe believes this but the only cap on what we can put our hand in our pockets for is profit and sustainability rules,” said Attanasio. “This will be the third season I’ve been here and the January transfer window is not easy to add players. The player we added last year didn't work out, which is maybe what is fun about sports.

"Ben's identified a couple of targets, but because they're good, other clubs want them as well. Several other clubs. So it is wait and see. He's done a good job of providing a narrative for what he's looking to do if you look at the summer. So I would say it's more of the same. You can sort of connect those dots.

"He told me and my son Mike it's too early to get into it at this stage, but we will talk about this again in a month or so.

"If Ben said, ‘Hey, I've got three great guys’ and that doesn't fit with what he'd told us otherwise then we’d ask the question about doing things in a different way, but if Ben finds three who are a fit we look at it.

"Also the coaches, because Johannes has said he doesn't want to have an overly-wieldy squad to manage, and he doesn't want to have people sitting on the bench who are sulking because they think they're as good as the people on the pitch."

City’s top brass also expect the likes of key striker Josh Sargent, Marcelino Nunez and the rest to be fit and available again ahead of the January window.

“Ben said in the meeting that by January, by the transfer window, everybody, including Josh should be back. That means we are adding back in a lot of really good players internally,” said the City director and Milwaukee Brewers' principal owner. “It has maybe put a slight dampener on where I thought we could end up this year. We still could make the play-offs.

"We’re exactly where we were last time around, and I think if this team is healthy it will be more dangerous in the play-offs than last year. Injuries have kind of bitten us so far.

"It's why it's important to have a plan and to follow through and execute on that plan, because we know we're moving in the right direction, and we're going to keep doing things in that direction and not stray to find band aids or short term solutions.”

Attanasio and his family have shared the frustration of City fans at the recent downturn on the pitch.

"Three points out of 18. You live and die with every match, and we do in baseball," he said. "This year our club was the only team in Major League baseball that did not lose four in a row, and it's over 162 games.

"The fact that we just lost three really hurt. And how we lost was worse. But in 20 seasons in sports, you find you're never as good as you think you are when you're going well, and you're not as bad as you think you are when you're going poorly."