Ignasi Miquel

Early career

Born in Barcelona, Catalonia, Miquel spent five years at La Masia academy before being released. Miquel transferred to UE Cornellà but it was not long before Miquel was playing for the club's reserve team, leading to a call-up to the Spain under-16's. A series of outstanding performances for the Spanish Youth side caught the eye of some of the world's biggest clubs. Manchester United and Valencia CF both faxed trial offers, showing how his stock had risen in just a few months.

Arsenal

Miquel joined the club just after his 16th birthday, making his debut in the Zinedine Zidane Tournament held in Cannes. Miquel made 12 appearances for the reserves in the 2009–10 season, becoming reserve team captain. He was selected as part of the first team squad for Cup games against Ipswich Town and Leeds United in January 2011 but did not feature in either game. On 20 February 2011, prior to Arsenal's FA Cup fifth-round match against Leyton Orient, it was announced that he would be starting his first competitive match for the club. He played the full 90 minutes as Arsenal drew with Leyton Orient 1–1. On 2 March, Miquel played the full 90 minutes as Arsenal beat Leyton Orient 5–0 in the FA Cup replay at the Emirates. He only made two appearances later in the 2010–11 season. At the start of the 2011–12 season, Miquel enjoyed a season to remember in the first team after being called into action in both the Premier League and Champions League. Miquel made his…

Having previously represented the Spain U16 side, Miquel played for the Spain under-19 team after being called up for the side on two occasions. Miquel made his Spain U19 debut on 19 April 2011, starting the whole game, in a 3–0 win over Russia U19. Miquel was part of the Spain U19 squad that won the 2011 European Championship. He was ever-present, starting and playing the full 90 minutes in every game of the tournament. In early 2013, Miquel was called up for the Spain U21 squad, and then made his debut for the Spanish U21 team on Tuesday 5 February 2013 in the 1–1 draw against Belgium, coming on as a 57th-minute substitute for Jordi Amat.

As of match played 18 August 2023

Miquel is the son of Xavier Miquel. In addition to speaking Catalan, his maternal tongue, Miquel speaks English, having the learned the language in his early career at Arsenal.