Canaries chief quells Forest deal claims

Chris Hughton admitted that Nottingham Forest have enquired about Daniel Ayala but claimed that he is not definitely leaving Norwich.

The Canaries chief spoke out about the 21-year-old Spain Under-21 international defender, who joined Norwich 12 months ago in a £800,000 move from Liverpool, after reports at the end of last week suggested he was joining Forest on a season-long loan. Hughton is aware that Ayala only made seven Premier League appearances for former boss Paul Lambert as knee and hamstring injuries hampered his progress. But, he is refusing to sanction a move to the City Ground until he is satisfied that he will not be left short on defensive options in the new Premier League season. "At the moment nothing is confirmed," said Hughton. "There has been that interest and we'll just see where that goes but nothing has yet been confirmed. It is an enquiry - that is all I would say. "We'll certainly know more over the next day or two and then we have got a decision to make at the club on what we do on that one. I have to make that decision but I have five centre-halves at the moment. "He is a good young talent, he is young and he had an injury last year that restricted his games. I think from memory he only played six or seven times in the first team and he is one that we would like to see how he develops but that is for the next day or two."