Celtic in talks with Juninho

The Brazilian international, who is currently in his third spell on Teesside, has found himself squeezed out by the summer arrival of both Mark Viduka and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink.

McClaren has adopted a 4-4-2 formation in all of Boro's pre-season games and, despite Juninho topping the club's scoring charts last season, he is not seen as a player who can slot easily into that system.

With Joseph-Desire Job having signed a new two-year deal, Juninho is challenging Szilard Nemeth and Massimo Maccarone for the role of fourth-choice striker and has spoken of his need for first-team football.

Celtic could answer that call and, with Henrik Larsson having left to join Barcelona, Bhoys' boss Martin O'Neill is aware of the need to sign a high-profile name to placate the Parkhead faithful.

O'Neill has already held preliminary talks with the World Cup winner and, with the transfer window set to close on August 31, is poised to hold more detailed discussions next week.

"Celtic have expressed an interest in Juninho and made an inquiry," admitted McClaren. "Martin O'Neill has spoken to Juninho, I think there's no secret of that.

"While we're actively not looking to sell Juninho, we can't stop interest from other clubs in our players. Anything else that's happening will certainly be kept behind closed doors.

"Juninho has been a fantastic player here. The first season, despite a bad injury, he came through and last season played a very, very important part in us winning our first trophy.

"We needed to improve our squad, we needed to improve our competition. We feel we've done that and hence, we've got everybody fighting for a place and we can't keep everybody happy.

"At the present moment, the ball is firmly in Juninho's court."

The 31-year-old now looks certain to be leaving Boro later this month, but skipper Gareth Southgate will be going nowhere after signing a two-year extension to his Riverside contract yesterday.

Southgate became the first Boro player to lift a major trophy when he held aloft the Carling Cup last season and is targeting more progress this term.

"The aim is to become a top-six club," said Southgate, who became McClaren's first signing when he made a £6.5m move from Aston Villa in July 2001.

"I think we've turned a few heads this summer with the players we've brought in.

"What we have to do is turn a few heads during the season because you don't get anything for what happens during June and July."

Southgate's new deal runs to the summer of 2007 but, while the 33-year-old centre-half has admitted he is likely to end his career at the Riverside, he has not ruled out playing beyond that.

"The deal will take me through to 36, nearly 37," he said.

"I think I'll be physically able to play on beyond that, but you're never sure. At that sort of age, I guess you re-assess it at the end of each season.

"But I feel very strong physically at the moment and I'm looking forward to this season and the next two.

"I'm sure I can play at this level for that period and possibly longer.

"But I see it very much as committing myself to Middlesbrough for the rest of my career, really."

McClaren has signed five internationals this summer, but securing Southgate's future is arguably his most important piece of business.

The Boro boss has been delighted with Southgate's impact since arriving in the North-East, and even described his skipper as Middlesbrough's Roy Keane.

"It's a little bit like Roy Keane epitomising what Alex Ferguson is all about," said McClaren.

"You have somebody on the field who can take that on when a manager can't be there, and Gareth is certainly similar in that role.

"He knows what we want, he knows the way we work, he knows how ambitious we are and he takes that on to the field with him, and it rubs off on everybody."