Norwich City midfielder Gabriel Sara is being tracked by Italian top-flight club Torino, it is understood.

The seven-time Italian champions have sent representatives to England to watch Sara, including in the 2-1 defeat to Watford in October, when he replaced Marcelino Nunez at half time as the Canaries chased the game.

The Brazilian arrived at Carrow Road in July for a reported initial fee of around £6million, with the potential for add-ons to take that to around £10million.

He was signed from Brazilian Serie A side Sao Paulo as City looked to revamp a midfield that struggled in the Premier League.

Included in that overhaul was fellow South American Nunez, who arrived from Universidad Catolica for £3.3million and is reportedly also the subject of interest on the continent, with Sevilla said to be tracking him.

Sara has had a mixed start to life in England, appearing 18 times for Norwich but starting just seven Championship games and making three goal contributions. He arrived in Norfolk carrying an ankle injury that kept him out of action until the second game of the season, but is slowly seeing his game time increase.

City head coach Dean Smith has been keen to highlight the time needed for his charge to adapt, admitting that he expects more from the 23-year-old as the season proceeds.

Speaking in September, the former Aston Villa boss said: "It was obviously difficult (for Sara) coming in with an injury. We had to assess where he was at, and now we feel he's in a good place to play football games.

"We nursed him into it slowly just to find out where he was. But he’s up to speed now, and that period has given him the opportunity to have a good look at what we do, and how we do it."

Smith confirmed last week that the club's inward January transfer business would be limited, saying: "We won’t be looking to do too much. We'll look to do something, but not too much at all. I think we've got a good enough squad.

"We've had a lot of players who have been injured, so we've got a number of players back that help us strengthen the squad without having to bring players in."

Canaries finance director Anthony Richens admitted recently that player sales would likely be required if reinforcements were needed, telling official club channels: "We believe that we have a strong enough squad to compete and to get us promoted.

"We worked tirelessly in the summer, first of all to keep our club together but also to bring in some players that would maximise the opportunity to get promoted back to the Premier League.

"Having said that, we have to understand that we have injuries and other things going on on the pitch, so we always look to January. As it stands today, if we were to do anything in January then we would need alternative financing, be it through a player sale or other financing means."