Leeds United's ex-Sunderland target linked with Norwich City despite Championship loan

The defender – who is currently on loan at Championship club Millwall – has also twice been linked with a move to Sunderland previously.

The first occasion came when Sunderland were still a League One club, with the Black Cats again tabling a bid for the England youth international last summer before signing Dan Ballard from Arsenal.

The 20-year-old Preston-born defender is set to spend the rest of the season out on loan at The Den. However, reports have suggested that Norwich City are interested in signing Cresswell on a permanent deal.

There have also been rumours that Leeds United – Cresswell’s parent club – could recall their defender in January but Lions manager Gary Rowett has stated he expects the player to remain with him for the remainder of the campaign.

Rowett also explained that he wasn’t surprised to hear of interest elsewhere in Cresswell following a strong start to life as a Millwall player.

“It’s not a surprise, he’s been really, really good,” the Millwall boss told NewsAtDen.

“For a first loan, to come into a difficult division when we’ve probably not been at our best in that period, he’s done really, really well.

“He’s another one that, because of the formation change, I had to make a decision on which two centre-halves I chose. One was my captain and one was my vice-captain, it’s very, very difficult.

“Again, there’ll be an opportunity at some point for Charlie to come back into the side and he’s got to be ready to stay in it when he does.

“All the external stories and whatever, I’m not surprised. He’s a really good player and one with a lot of potential.

“I can’t control all of those things. All I can do is try and pick the team that I think is going to win the game and then try to give the players that are not in the side an opportunity to try and stake their place.

“Football changes very, very quickly and the players out of the team or out of the squad just need to be ready. When they get their chance, they’ll have an opportunity to try and keep their place.”