Norwich boss Johannes Hoff Thorup appears resigned to losing midfielder Gabriel Sara before the start of the new Championship season.
The Brazilian, who has scored 20 goals in 86 league appearances in two years at Carrow Road, has been strongly linked with a move to Turkish club Galatasaray.
He was not involved in Norwich's final pre-season friendly, a 3-1 home defeat by German club St Pauli.
"He was not a part of the team because it is getting closer, so close that it didn't make sense for him, or for us, to participate," Thorup told BBC Radio Norfolk.