Norwich City targeted Bodo Glimt’s Champions League goalscoring talisman Kasper Høgh in the recent window – now Philippe Clement has revealed a Canaries’ transfer near miss.

City turned their attentions to Australian international, Mohamed Toure, for an initial £2.6m from Randers FC, after missing out on an ambitious striker swoop.

Norwich were in dialogue with the Norwegians during last month, but £7m-rated Høgh’s goals in wins over Manchester City and Atletico Madrid sealed a Champions League play-off tie against Inter Milan later this month, and scuppered any chance of a Carrow Road move.

“First, to say, we have put the bar really high before this transfer window,” he said, speaking at Colney on Friday ahead of Blackburn’s Championship visit. “As a club, everybody aligned around that, and we were really, really close in signing a striker who wanted to come, but the situation changed, because his team was winning games that they were not expected to win, and the situation changed.

“So then at the end of the window we had to go for another profile, and Mo is more a younger profile with qualities for now, but also for sure, for the future. It was first the idea to bring somebody in with more experience. So that’s a little bit the story about the striker choice made during the window.

“(Is that striker one you could target again in the summer?) The summer is a long way away now, for sure, when I look out of the window (at the weather). So I’m totally not thinking about summer now. And the player really wanted to come because we had a lot of talks. He believed a lot in the story. He saw that he was playing, he saw how he could suit the team, the club and the ambition that the club have.

“But that story is finished now and let’s move on now with the guys who are here who, because it’s important the story now, it’s not important the story for the summer. We need to look at the here and now and the period to come with, with all these games to focus on that, with all the squad available here.”

Clement also made it clear on Friday the situation around Josh Sargent is unchanged. The US international is not training with the first team, and not in the selection mix since informing Clement he did not want to be considered for the FA Cup tie against Walsall amid transfer interest from Toronto FC.

The MLS transfer window is open until March 26, with the new MLS season beginning later this month.

“I told you guys, if something changes there, it will be my first words in a press conference, and you don’t even have to put a question, then I will start with that,” said the City boss. “So for the moment, there is no change of situation.”