Christos Tzolis never wanted to leave Norwich City but the winger knew he was set for a bit-part role in the Canaries’ Championship promotion bid.

Tzolis has been a revelation on loan at Fortuna Dusseldorf in Bundesliga 2, with 22 goal contributions in 23 appearances earning him recall to the Greek national squad for Thursday’s European Championship play-off against Kazakhstan.

Fortuna have a buy obligation, contingent on promotion, but Werder Bremen are the latest Bundesliga club linked with the 22-year-old, who is under contract at Carrow Road until 2025.

German powerhouses Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund also reportedly scouted Tzolis when he notched a goal and an assist in the league win over Hamburg earlier this month.

Tzolis’ first club, PAOK Salonika, negotiated a sizeable sell-on clause in the deal that brought him to Norfolk, but the winger is only focused on a big end to the season.

“I won't say much, I don't have anything crazy in mind. I look at this year, the present. I want to get as many matches as I can,” he said. “May the team achieve its goal and finish in one of the top three positions. I think it's a realistic goal, but we have to show it on the pitch as well. On a personal level I want to score as many goals as I can and give as many assists as possible.

“From the first moment I felt the trust from the coach that I will have an important role in the team and that I will not be a rotation player. I wouldn't be the one who comes in as a substitute for 10 or 15 minutes, and has to prove in that time that he can help. That was the case with me at Norwich.

“I would come on as a substitute for a few minutes and I felt the pressure that I had to prove in that time that I can help, because otherwise I won't play.”

Jon Rowe’s emergence and the signings of Borja Sainz and Christian Fassnacht meant Tzolis was surplus to requirements.

“The story was a bit strange. I trained with Norwich and I had started well, I didn't want to leave,” he said, in a wide-ranging recent interview with Greek outlet, Gazzetta. “Many times, however, not all decisions go through us. I spoke to the coach and he explained that I will have limited playing time during the season.

"The first team that was interested in me was Fortuna Dusseldorf. They called my manager every two to three days, they came to friendly games to see me. I really liked their attitude because it showed me that the team will use me. I understood that they would support me and that I would have the participation time I wanted so much. This was the most decisive thing for me.”

Tzolis was a big-money signing for Norwich, ahead of their second tilt at the Premier League in 2021, but only made three top flight starts.

“I had several offers from teams in the Bundesliga and also from Belgium,” he said. “Of course, I knew that this is a very historic team that participates in the best league in the world. I had other options, but they did not cover PAOK financially.

“I knew that PAOK was in negotiations with Norwich, and that a first offer had been made which had been rejected. I got a much better sense of what happened when my first match with my new team was against Liverpool, and the second against Manchester City. I was suddenly on the same pitch as (Virgil) van Dijk and Kevin De Bruyne.

“It was a great feeling to have these footballers as your opponents, on these pitches, in this atmosphere. But at the same time, you have to be yourself and live it. Not just being there and then being able to say ‘I played’. What matters most is playing and making a difference.

“The first year I was patient. I was saying to myself, 'I may not play this year, but next year I will play more. The team will support me because I'm young and they paid a big amount to get me.’ Ultimately, I never felt at Norwich that I would get the playing time I wanted. I wanted to play, since I was little, wherever I went I had a ball at my feet and I played.

"Suddenly there were matches where I was even out of the squad. This resulted in me being left out of the national team and it all affected me. I was thinking that despite being part of a team in the top league in the world, I was not being called up to the national team.”