The Swedish striker missed several months of the 2004/2005 campaign with a knee problem, but returned to fitness in time to help Norwich’s brave survival bid, scoring a late goal which beat Charlton at Carrow Road last month as Nigel Worthington’s side chalked up four straight home wins to pull themselves clear of the bottom three.

The Norfolk side, however, failed to retain their top-flight status when they were thrashed 6-0 at Fulham on the final day of the season.

Svensson signed for Norwich from Charlton in December 2003, helping them win the First Division title, and has one year left on his current contract, but now could be on his way out of Carrow Road and back to his homeland.

The Norwich board have been quick to state there are no financial pressures to offload any of their squad as the club prepares for life in the Coca-Cola Championship, but that, equally, they will not stand in the way of anyone who does not want to be part of the challenges ahead.

Chief executive Neil Doncaster said: “We very much hope that Matt will choose to stay at Carrow Road for the final year of his deal. However, we would obviously respect Matt’s right to return to Sweden in accordance with his contract if he wished.”

Doncaster added on the club’s official website, www.canaries.co.uk: “In the event that Matt does decide to go, the full amount of any transfer fee and all savings in wages would go straight into Nigel Worthington’s transfer kitty.”