In many ways, things aren't looking good for Christian Fassnacht.

The Norwich City winger is a symbol of the David Wagner era, a reminder of the ideology Ben Knapper wants to take the Canaries away from this summer.

At 30 he's ripe for selling in the mission to lower City's age profile, and in truth the German's faith in him was more based in tactical reliability than attacking danger. With the new project all about offensive proactivity, there are question marks over where he'll fit in.

Those question marks still existed even under a head coach who trusted him and in a system he was used to, with fans struggling to put their finger on exactly what it was that Fassnacht offered.

Games went by with barely a trace of him visible, especially in a barren autumn period featuring no goals or assists in 10 matches. By the time Borja Sainz had finally been given his first start and Jonathan Rowe moved over to the right, Fassnacht became a fixture of the bench.

His limited inclusions felt like lurches for Wagner's more comfortable safety-first approach, with Norwich missing a driving force in Rowe's absence. Even when the 21-year-old sustained an injury that meant he missed the Championship run-in, the then-City head coach turned to Gabriel Sara more often than not.

Adding all of those up it feels like an amicable parting of the ways is in order this summer, much like Pierre Lees-Melou's 2022 exit or Leroy Fer's QPR move in 2014. There will certainly be teams in Europe aware of his talents after years of Champions League football with Young Boys.

Fassnacht was a David Wagner favouriteFassnacht was a David Wagner favourite (Image: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd)

But Fassnacht's character is a resilient one, and he isn't ready to give up just yet. "I'm not going to break up my camp prematurely just because things didn't quite work out the way I had imagined," he told SRF in April. "I know what I can do."

The irony of the situation he finds himself in now is that Norwich fans also know what he can do. It may take strenuous concentration to remember the heady days of his introduction, but early on the signs were blindingly bright.

First he scored on the day he was signed in a friendly against Toulouse, before scoring what looked like a last-ditch winner against Southampton in the second game of the season. He then played a key role in wins over Millwall and Huddersfield, notching again despite defeat at Rotherham.

Glimpses of that form returned early this year, when he perfected the super-sub role to score important goals against Hull, Watford and Cardiff. There's no doubting his knack for popping up in the right place at the right time.

There also appears to be a good technical player there, the type Johannes Hoff Thorup may well fancy including in his possession-based plan at Carrow Road.

Although the Dane's Nordsjaelland team was largely built on youth, it wasn't without its old heads, and Fassnacht could help adjust the balance. Although tight finances mean Knapper can't be especially idealistic this summer, the focus will be on younger players where possible.

With Ben Gibson, Dimitris Giannoulis, Danny Batth and potentially more out of the picture, that could leave a slot for the former Thun man in the dressing room. That's not to mention the intelligence, movement and in-possession combination he offers.

But, as with many of Wagner's favourites this summer, he'll now have to prove himself if he really does want to extend his English adventure. He'll need to add consistency, risk and a better cross to his game, which will be tough at this stage of his career.

But if the glimpses of quality he showed throughout the 2023-24 season are anything to go by, it isn't necessarily a forgone conclusion for Fassnacht.