Ipswich Town midfielder Idris El Mizouni is set to be re-united with his former boss Paul Hurst at Grimsby Town.
We understand the 20-year-old will soon join the relegation fighting League Two club on loan having spent the first part of the campaign struggling for game time at table-topping fourth-tier club Cambridge United.
El Mizouni was first called up to the Town first team set-up during Hurst's brief spell in charge in 2018, eventually being handed his senior debut by Paul Lambert in March 2019.
Speaking last July, El Mizouni said: "I wasn’t anywhere near the first team under Mick McCarthy, then Paul Hurst came and that’s when I started to train with the first team. I knew he really liked me.
"I think he was really good for the youth team. He watched a lot of our games and even came in and took some sessions. When you have a manager like that you just want to give everything and show him ‘look how good I am’.
"It was the same with his assistant (Chris Doig). It was a bit unfair that some fans said he was a bully because when you know him well you wouldn’t say that."
In total, the French-born Tunisian international has made 13 senior appearances for the Blues - just two of them league starts.
He rejoined Cambridge United on loan this season, having suffered a knee injury there during a brief but impressive spell there at the start of 2020, but was limited to just three league starts. The fact that the U's play a 4-4-2 system went against him and it's understood he requested a recall.
The January transfer window arrivals of Josh Harrop (Preston) and Luke Thomas (Barnsley) on loan have pushed him further down the Ipswich pecking order.
Grimsby are currently second-bottom of the League Two table. Ian Holloway quit as boss there just before Christmas, with former Town duo Hurst and Chris Doug returning to their former club.
Meanwhile, it's understood that Armando Dobra and Brett McGavin are also among the fringe youngsters who have also been made available for loan ahead of Monday's deadline.
Speaking earlier today, Lambert said: "Some of the young ones people have been enquired about. They need men’s football rather than Under-23 games."
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