Emiliano Marcondes to leave Norwich City? Potential exit hint dropped | OneFootball

Emiliano Marcondes has issued a potential hint on his Norwich City future while addressing the ongoing situation at Carrow Road

Norwich City are currently trending in the right direction under Philippe Clement following a disastrous first-half of the season at Carrow Road, which had sparked fears over a shock relegation to League One.

Such anxieties have since been allayed, however, with ex-Rangers boss Clement having won 11 and lost just six of his opening 20 matches after succeeding Liam Manning - who had left the Canaries inside the relegation zone and staring at the threat of dropping out of the Championship.

There is perhaps too much traffic and ground to make up for Norwich to mount a late charge towards the play-offs at this stage, and Clement's side still remain just six points clear of 22nd-placed Leicester City with 13 matches to spare.

But there is a palpable feel-good factor now humming around Norfolk once more - despite unpopular sporting director Ben Kanpper remaining a firm figure of critique among supporters - and that feeling was only heightened by a productive January transfer window, which saw Clement bolster his squad while keeping outgoings to a minimum.

The Canaries notably won the race for in-demand Manchester United full-back Harry Amass, who has since seen his loan stint ravaged by injuries after excelling at Sheffield Wednesday, whereas Sam Field was poached from Championship rivals QPR and Ali Ahmed, Paris Maghoma and Mo Toure in particular have enjoyed extremely strong starts to life with the Yellows.

There was, of course, the Josh Sargent saga, which is now meeting its conclusion amid the USMNT forward's switch to Toronto FC, and Emiliano Marcondes was another player who represented a plausible mid-season departure before ultimately staying put.

However, Marcondes' future at Norwich remains somewhat up in the air and the Danish playmaker has now dropped a potential hint.

Emiliano Marcondes drops potential Norwich City exit hint

It had previously been revealed by The Pink Un that Marcondes, who is set to see his contract expire this summer, had rejected a January switch to an undisclosed club in Germany for unknown reasons.

The former Brentford and Bournemouth attacking midfielder caught the eye for Norwich last season with five goals and six assists from 33 appearances but has been deemed surplus to requirements since Clement's arrival, starting only three league outings under the Belgian's watch.

Marcondes has now opened up on his situation at Carrow Road, explaining to Viaplay - via Campo - that Norwich had given him the green-light to leave the club in January and that he was close to sealing a move elsewhere.

However, the 30-year-old also hinted that an exit could yet happen, citing that certain continental windows remain open, and that could pave the way for a departure before the expiration of his deal at the end of the campaign.

He said: "The club told me that they would invest playing time in some of the younger players and the players who have been here for a longer time.

“I fully understand that. I’ve been in the game long enough to understand that.

“I was also close to moving to other countries, but now most transfer windows are closed, there are still a few that are open.

"But that’s my situation right now. I’m slowly getting back into the team and hopefully I can get some playing time again."

Emiliano Marcondes' existing Norwich City transfer exit options

It's interesting that Marcondes has noted that some windows are still open, with the majority of those in Europe having now slammed shut until the summer.

That means that his options are rather limited at this stage, but Norwich would likely be interested in the idea of still collecting a fee for the Dane's services before losing him for free and Marcondes himself clearly wants to be playing regular football again - so an exit cannot be ruled out.

In Europe, the likeliest options could be a move to either the Swedish, Norweigan or Ukrainian top divisions, with the former two perhaps making the most sense owing to Marcondes' Scandinavian roots.

All the windows in South America are open, though, and Marcondes was linked with a move to Brazilian outfit Gremio last summer. Meanwhile, the MLS window is still open for another month, and it would be no great surprise to see the talented midfielder join the aforementioned Sargent in jetting off Stateside.