CHERRIES were understood to have been thwarted in their attempts to sign Norwich City striker Lewis Grabban – just minutes before Tuesday's transfer window closed.

The former Cherries frontman’s hopes of a return to Dean Court were scuppered when the Canaries apparently pulled the plug on the move at the 11th hour, claim Daily Echo sources.

Cherries had been confident of securing Grabban’s services after it appeared their Premier League rivals had indicated they would be prepared to accept an improved £7million offer for the player.

However, it is believed the Norfolk outfit blocked the move and refused to sign the relevant paperwork before informing Cherries of their decision five minutes before the deadline.

As a consequence, it is understood Cherries were forced to veto a proposed transfer for one of their own players.

Earlier in the day, Daily Echo sources claimed Cherries had turned down an approach from the Canaries for defender Steve Cook, with a possible swap deal involving Grabban mooted.

Norwich had also been linked with a deadline-day swoop for Crystal Palace striker Dwight Gayle, although that move also bit the dust after the Eagles had refused to sell.

To add to the intrigue, it is also believed Palace had accepted a lesser bid from Cherries for Glenn Murray than they had from Norwich after the striker had indicated he did not wish to uproot to East Anglia.

Murray, who today put the finishing touches to his £4m move to Cherries, could make his debut against Norwich at Carrow Road a week on Saturday.

Grabban joined Cherries for £300,000 from Rotherham in the summer of 2012 and left for Norwich in June 2014 after the Canaries had triggered a £3m release clause in his contract.

The 27-year-old was suspended by the club until after the transfer deadline having apparently walked out of the team hotel ahead of their League Cup tie at Rotherham seven days ago.

Cherries tabled four unsuccessful bids for their former player, the third of which was rejected by the Norfolk outfit just hours before the cup game in south Yorkshire. A fourth bid was turned down earlier this week before Cherries upped their offer to £7m.

Norwich boss Alex Neil had insisted they would not be held to ransom by Cherries over their pursuit of Grabban, who netted 22 times for the Dorset club in 2013-14 and finished the campaign as one of the leading goalscorers in the Championship.

Cherries also missed out on Napoli midfielder Jonathan de Guzman, while a move for Genoa winger Diego Perotti is also believed to have fallen through.