Blues boss Paul Jewell spent Monday evening at Barnet’s Underhill watching Arsenal’s U21s beat Everton’s youngsters 3-0 with Gunners' Spanish central defender Ignasi Miquel likely to have been the reason for his trip.
If the Town manager was there eyeing potential central defensive loan recruits, Arsenal fielded Martin Angha, an 18-year-old from Switzerland, who was rumoured to be a possible Blues target in January, but his partner, 19-year-old Ignasi Miquel, is most likely to have been why Jewell made his visit to north London.
Miquel, who played against the Blues’ reserves in a friendly at Playford Road last season, featured for the Arsenal first team on a number of occasions during 2011/12.
The 6ft 4in tall Spanish U16 and U19 international who also plays at left-back has made one Premier League start and three sub appearances and one sub appearance in the Champions League, in addition to six starts in the domestic cups - one of them Town's 1-0 victory over the Gunners in the Carling Cup semi-final first leg at Portman Road in 2010/11. Earlier this summer he was linked with a loan move to Brighton and Arsene Wenger is believed to want to send him out for a spell to gain first team experience.
However, the former Barcelona trainee appears very much in Wenger's long-term plans and wouldn't be available on the loan-with-a-view-to-buy basis that Jewell sees as the solution to his central defensive problems.
Everton’s centre-halves were the rather more inexperienced 18-year-old Swede Johann Hammar and 17-year-old Matthew Pennington.
Strengthening at central defence is Jewell’s priority, but he has said he is also looking to add to other areas of his side, while he may just have been running the rule over the two Premier League clubs’ youngsters for future reference.
However, with scouts from plenty of other Championship clubs, including Sheffield Wednesday and Leicester, also present, Miquel would appear the most obvious potential target to have been in action.