Birmingham City plot transfer move for 9-goal Spanish winger | OneFootball

Blues are currently in the market for wide reinforcements

Birmingham City have reportedly "made contact" with Spanish La Liga side, Deportivo Alaves, over the potential signing of their nine-goal winger, Carlos Vicente.

That is according to Spanish-based journalist, Matteo Moretto via X on Friday afternoon, with Chris Davies looking to bolster his current wide options at St. Andrew's @ Knighthead Park.

It has been an extremely intriguing winter transfer window in this part of the West Midlands thus far, with Blues looking to reshuffle their squad between now and the deadline of 7PM on Monday, February 2nd, in order to give themselves a desired advantage over many of their Championship rivals in what is a congested and constantly ever-changing race for the play-off places.

Birmingham's ambitions under American ownership group, Knighthead Capital Management, have dominated EFL-based headlines for quite some time. However, there is now the expectation that the club's future plans, which include a new 62,000-seater stadium as part of the upcoming Sports Quarter regeneration project, will be married up alongside significant progress on the pitch.

The first step of Tom Wagner's rebuilding job was boxed off when Blues secured the League One title with 111 points last term, and whilst many expected Davies' side to continue riding a strong wave of momentum upon their return to the second tier, that hasn't quite happened as we progress through January and into the season's final weeks and months.

However, a 3-2 victory against local rivals and league leaders, Coventry City, in their last Championship outing now means Blues are just seven points behind the top six with 20 games remaining.

The Second City club have been linked with a plethora of potential statement signings since the window reopened for business, although only the acquisition of German full-back, Kai Wagner, from Philadelphia Union, has been confirmed to-date.

And, with Davies reiterating that he is on the hunt for further additions to his creative department, it has emerged that Birmingham are back in for the aforementioned Vicente, who was linked with a move to St. Andrew's during the summer transfer window.

Birmingham City plot transfer move for Carlos Vicente amid bullish Deportivo Alaves transfer stance

As previously mentioned, Vicente reportedly appeared on Blues' radar as a potential target during the summer window, although a move from the La Liga club would not materialise.

Despite that, Davies was still able to recruit three new wide options in the form of returning academy graduate, Demarai Gray - who is currently sidelined with a calf strain - as well as Liverpool and Sunderland loanees in the form of Lewis Koumas and Patrick Roberts.

Gray and Roberts have, unarguably, been two of Blues' most successful transfers from the summer window, and there were reportedly plans in place for the club to make the latter's loan switch from the Stadium of Light into a permanent transfer ahead of the expiration of his contract at the Stadium of Light in June.

Meanwhile, it has been confirmed by Davies that Birmingham have agreed an extension with last season's Premier League champions regarding the break clause in Koumas' loan switch, which could see him recalled to Anfield.

Such developments came after Football League World exclusively revealed that Blues had failed to land Mjallby AIF winger, Abdoulie Manneh, due to a breakdown in talks after an initial deal for the Gambian was agreed, whilst Keshi Anderson had seen his contract terminated six months ahead of schedule on Wednesday afternoon.

As such, many supporters have been left concerned with a lack of options out wide. However, it has now emerged that Birmingham have made contact with Alaves over potentially luring Vicente to St. Andrew's during the current window.

Moretto does report, though, that Alaves have made it clear they do not want to lose the 26-year-old winger, who has scored nine times across 26 matches in all competitions this season, with his side currently 16th in La Liga - two places and as many points above the relegation zone.

This is a rather intriguing link on Blues' part, with Vicente featuring predominantly as a right-winger, and scoring seven of his nine goals stationed in said position so far.

As such, he would certainly provide adequate competition for Roberts, although he has also played a handful of games on the opposite flank across his career.

Despite Alaves' inconsistent campaign thus far, Vicente is clearly an integral player to Eduardo Coudet, having also scored five times and assisted as many in 37 La Liga appearances last term.

In the summer, it was reported that Vicente was also of interest to the likes of Southampton, FC Krasnodar and Olympiacos, with the latter featuring in the UEFA Champions League.