Norwich City have agreed a deal in principle with Everton for the £8m purchase of Steven Naismith having revived interest first expressed in the summer, though they face competition from a number of rival Premier League clubs to secure the Scotland international.

Naismith, scorer of an eye-catching hat-trick in the victory over Chelsea in September, has started only four Premier League games this season, and none at all since the loss to Manchester United at Goodison Park in mid-October.

The 29-year-old had been the subject of a £7m bid from the Canaries in the last week of the summer window which was rejected with Roberto Martínez suggesting then that the player was “too important to Everton” to be permitted to leave given there was no real time in which to secure a replacement.

The manager’s stance has since shifted, with Martínez indicating earlier this month that he intended to address the situation in face-to-face talks with Naismith in January.

Norwich, who have made no secret of their desire to add to their forward ranks having also failed with a £9m move for Crystal Palace’s Dwight Gayle on deadline day in September, have now returned to the Merseyside club with a new offer that has been deemed acceptable, though it remains to be seen whether the striker’s other suitors follow up their interest.

Sunderland, Swansea City, Aston Villa and Newcastle United have indicated an interest in the Scot as they search for goals to stave off the threat of relegation. Middlesbrough, who are currently top of the Championship, have also been monitoring the potential availability of a player who scored against Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea and Manchester City last season, only to find his place usurped by the excellent Romelu Lukaku and the ease in which Gerard Deulofeu has settled back into the Premier League since his summer arrival from Barcelona.

While Naismith, who came off the bench and played for 25 minutes in the 4-3 defeat by Stoke on Monday, is not agitating for a move, the need for regular first-team football at this stage of his career is clear. Martínez, who faces a similar situation with the little-used Belgium international Kevin Mirallas, addressed Naismith’s bit-part role earlier this month.

“I sat down with Steven in August and said: ‘You are too important to Everton to allow you to go at this stage. I don’t know how Arouna Koné will be, how Gerard Deulofeu will be, how the others will be,’” he said. “The offer of Norwich arrived very late and I couldn’t replace him. It was a very honest communication and I said in January we will reassess it.

“The way Steven Naismith behaves, and the way he works, means that when he says something you have to listen. Anything could happen between now and then, but I will listen to him. If it is someone who is selfish and has never been bothered about helping the team then you can pay them back in the same way. It is quite straightforward.”

Naismith may have been out of the team but he kept busy over Christmas by paying for dinner for hundreds of homeless people in Glasgow, an event organised by the charity Loaves and Fishes, which helps those sleeping rough in the city.

Norwich will complete the £2.5m permanent signing of West Ham’s one-time England winger Matt Jarvis, who has spent the first half of the season on loan at Carrow Road, on 2 January.

The manager, Alex Neil, was frustrated by the inability to force through further late business in the summer window, but has still steered his side three points clear of the relegation zone in the period since.