Middlesbrough or Villaboro?!

According to a sketchy report in the Sunday Mirror Middlesbrough are apparently looking to re-claim their Villaboro title as new boss and former Villa boy Gareth Southgate is apparently in the hunt for two more of our players following earlier reports linking him with a swoop for Wales international defender Mark Delaney.

The new report says that Boro are now after Juan Pablo Angel who only yesterday was quoted on the official Villa site as saying he is optimistic about the new season and looking forward to getting back to work. Villa Strongest Squad For Years

The other link is to our longest serving player and is a more obvious link as he has already stated that he will need to leave to gain regular first team football and has gone as far as saying he is being ‘pushed out’. So Lee Hendrie to Boro? Makes more sense, he apparently turned down a move to Sheffield United because he didn’t want to take a cut in wages, but money bags Boro would be able to meet his current wage demands without a problem.

Interesting links but until any bid comes in, it is still just paper talk. That said, David O’Leary knows that he has to sell before he can buy (does anyone else see the irony in the ‘beware of asset strippers’ rubbish that Ellis spouts?) and would surely agree the sale of either or both of these players?

Fee’s for Hendrie in the press have differed from £500 000 to £2million. I’d certainly not sell for anything less than £2million because who could we possible replace the midfielder with for that sort of money anyway? With £2million + £1.5million we got from Newcastle United for the Nolberto Solano sale we could at least then bid for James Milner.

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