Birmingham City and Nottingham Forest are each said to have sent representatives to watch Jeremie Bela in action.
A player reportedly scouted by Birmingham City and Nottingham Forest last season appears to have now signed for the Blues.
Get French Football News claimed that Birmingham and Nottingham Forest each sent representatives to watch Jeremie Bela in action for Albacete, but witnessed him endure difficult games in which he failed to make an impression.
Bela, who scored and made 14 goals in his 37 appearances throughout the campaign, was also linked with the La Liga and Ligue 1 clubs, Alaves and Nantes, but no such move materialised – despite the French-Angolan having been a free agent since he rejected a new deal with his previous employers ahead of the summer transfer window.
That means he is free to sign for – and be registered with – a new club, effective immediately.
And an Instagram post made by one of Bela’s former teammates – the St Etienne striker and one-time Bristol City loanee, Lios Diony – on Monday, shows him holding up a Birmingham shirt with his name and the number 11 on the back.
Even more curious is the fact that particular Blues jersey has remained vacant since Issac Vassell left to join Cardiff City at the start of the season.
Birmingham, though, have yet to announce they have signed the 26-year-old, and it could just be a carefully constructed hoax.
Nottingham Forest recruited a pair of new wingers, Sammy Ameobi and Albert Adomah, ahead of the campaign.
Could Nottingham Forest be made to rue their failure to sign the potentially Birmingham-bound player?
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