AFTER weeks of confusion, The Insider has finally received some clarity about Mido’s contractual relationship with Middlesbrough.

Contrary to what you might have read elsewhere, the Egyptian is still formally registered as a Middlesbrough player.

However, unlike his previous move to Ajax, there is no chance of his current loan move to Zamalek collapsing before he is due to become a free agent in the summer.

When Mido moved to Amsterdam last August, Middlesbrough officials thought they had seen the last of him.

The club had reached a financial agreement that effectively ended their association with the striker, and his Ajax deal was due to run until the end of the season.

Things changed when Mido fell out with the Ajax hierarchy, though, and while Boro had no financial responsibility for the 27-year-old, he was still registered as their player.

As a result, when he asked for permission to train with the rest of the Middlesbrough squad, the club felt obliged to say yes.

Manager Tony Mowbray was willing to give Mido a chance to prove his fitness and, initially at least, the African was prepared to play more or less for free in the second half of the season.

His attitude changed when he received a loan offer from Zamalek, but Middlesbrough are understood to have secured a series of cast-iron guarantees about his contractual status between now and June. As a result, there will be no unscheduled third spell at Rockliffe Park.

STICKING with Middlesbrough, why has the Ramsdens name disappeared from the club’s shirts less than a month after they signed a three-year sponsorship deal?

The answer is that when Boro were asking for monthly sponsors at the start of the season, Stockton-based LJJ Limited signed a one-month deal for February.

As a result, when Ramsdens opted to turn their month-by-month agreement into a long-term deal shortly before Christmas, they were unable to secure the February slot.

LJJ’s logo will be on Boro’s shirts for this month’s games against Swansea, Millwall, Burnley and QPR, with the Ramsdens branding return for the final 12 matches of the season, starting with the trip to Reading on March 5.

AND to complete a Middlesbrough hat-trick, former boss Gareth Southgate is not the only person with a connection to the Teessiders enjoying a high profile within the Football Association.

Boro chief executive Keith Lamb was in Copenhagen this week, representing the FA as England played against Denmark.

Lamb is one of the Football League’s eight representatives on the FA Council, the body that meets to discuss and determine the major policies of the organisation that runs English football.

He is also one of the 11 people who make up the FA’s highly-influential international committee, and also sits on the Challenge Cup committee responsible for overseeing the FA Cup.

WHILE some supporters may have been intrigued to see Tony McMahon taking the captain’s armband as Matthew Bates was stretchered off at Crystal Palace last Saturday, it was no surprise to Palace’s administrative staff.

For on the official teamsheet handed out to the media before kick-off, it was McMahon named as captain, not Bates. An administrative error, or a premonition, perhaps?

ELSEWHERE, at Newcastle United’s training ground this week there has been a visit from Electronic Arts. The gamers among you will need no reminding that they are the makers of the highly successful FIFA series.

Inside the giant indoor arena at the club’s Darsley Park HQ, a Vancouver-based team from EA Sports had constructed a filming tent and were taking shots of each Newcastle player.

When it was Joey Barton’s turn to have his mug-shot taken for FIFA 12, due out in October, he admitted he was addicted to the game himself.

What was intriguing, was that while the Vancouver-based EA team were there to take photos, they could have been taking them of anyone – they had no idea who the players were.