Town general manager of football operations Lee O’Neill says Everton youngster Lewis Gibson is a player that the Blues have had a look at but that at present the 19-year-old isn’t available for loan.
Gibson is understood to be well up manager Paul Lambert’s list of potential loan signings to replace Toto Nsiala, who completed a switch to Bolton until the end of the season on Friday.
Asked about Town’s interest in Gibson, O’Neill confirmed that the England U17, U18 and U20 internationals is someone the Blues are keen on.
"Lewis is a player that we’ve had a look at. We’ve had a restructuring of our scouting system, we’ve got a number of players that we’re interested in across the country that we’ve identified,” he told BBC Radio Suffolk’s Life’s a Pitch (1hr 31mins 48secs).
"He’s one on a long list of players that we would like but at the moment he’s an Everton player and that situation’s not going any further forward at this moment in time.”
Gibson is out of contract at Goodison Park at the end of the season and has been linked with a return to his former club Newcastle.
Quizzed on whether Everton loaning him out is dependent on him signing a new deal with the Toffeemen, O’Neill added: "I don’t know about that. It’s up to them to figure that situation out. All I know is that at this moment in time he’s not available for loan.”