MICHAEL Reiziger is ready to turn his back on English football after just one season by returning to his native Holland next month.

The full-back is keen to resurrect his international career ahead of next summer's World Cup and, while Steve McClaren is keen to increase the size of his squad this summer, neither the Middlesbrough boss nor chairman Steve Gibson will stand in Reiziger's way.

He signed a two-year deal when he arrived at the Riverside from Barcelona last summer.

But, after a disappointing campaign in which he has struggled for both fitness and form, Boro will allow him to leave for free.

A number of Dutch clubs have been monitoring his situation closely, with Champions League semi-finalists PSV Eindhoven and former club Ajax both understood to be pondering a formal approach for the 32-year-old.

Reiziger's Boro career hardly got off to the best of starts when he injured his shoulder in a pre-season game at Hansa Rostock, before exacerbating the problem in last August's 5-3 defeat at Arsenal.

He returned to action in late November, but could only manage an underwhelming 21 starts before missing the final two months of the campaign with another niggling problem.

Ironically, for a right-back, his best display in a Boro shirt came on the opposite flank as he successfully shackled Shaun Wright-Phillips in December's 3-2 win over Manchester City.

While McClaren can call on Stuart Parnaby or Tony McMahon to replace Reiziger at right-back, the Dutchman's occasional appearances on the left highlight the lack of cover for Franck Queudrue.

McClaren has been tracking a number of left-backs, and is close to making a move for Austrian international Emanuel Pogatetz.

The 22-year-old first came to Boro's attention in February when he impressed for Austrian side Grazer AK during their two UEFA Cup games with the Teessiders.

Pogatetz, who is owned by German outfit Bayer Leverkusen, spent two seasons on loan at Grazer before finishing the season with Spartak Moscow.

The Russians are keen to secure his services on a permanent basis but, with the promise of more European competition next season, a move to Middlesbrough would be a far more attractive proposition.

McClaren, who is keen to reduce his reliance on 30-somethings or teenagers, has already signed one 22-year-old this week in striker Aiyegbeni Yakubu.

The arrival of the Nigerian means that Boro can now boast eight senior strikers and, while last season proved the necessity of a large squad, it remains likely that at least two will be on their way.

Massimo Maccarone will play the final game of the Italian season for Siena this weekend and, provided the strugglers avoid relegation to Serie B, he is expected to join them permanently this summer.

The 25-year-old cost £8.15m when he joined Boro in July 2002 but, while Siena will be offering nothing like that, the Teessiders are keen to draw a line under one of their most costly transfer mistakes.

"He's done well there, he's scored goals and ultimately, as with everything, the ball's in the player's court," said McClaren. "That will be assessed when the Italian season is finished."

With Jimmy-Floyd Hasselbaink, Mark Viduka, Malcolm Christie and Danny Graham certain to be going nowhere, McClaren will also listen to offers for Joseph-Desire Job and Szilard Nemeth as he looks to reduce the number of strikers on his books.

"I think in the striking department we have got a lot of players," conceded the Boro boss.

"At the moment I'm happy with the squad, and the addition of Yakubu was a necessity. But we have got a few.

"We've learned this year that you need as many players as you can get. Ideally, you need four quality strikers."

Yakubu's quality is evident in his recent record. The former Portsmouth striker scored 36 goals in his last two seasons on the south coast.

"We've been interested in him for more than a year," said McClaren. "We were interested in him last summer, but nothing could be done.

"We've kept an eye on him ever since, followed him very closely, and he's always scored when we've run into him.

"He's got pace and he's got power.

"Pace is a vital component of the game, and it's something that we've not really had up front. It's something we've been searching for, for a long time.

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