OUT-OF-FAVOUR Carlos Marinelli looks set to start the new Premiership season at Middlesbrough, despite plenty of interest from Italy.

The 20-year-old attacker is surplus to requirements at the Riverside but manager Steve McClaren has been unable to move the player on.

Marinelli enjoyed a successful loan spell at Torino last season and was close to a permanent switch.

However, a £1.5m deal fell through for the Argentinian and his agents have been frantically trying to broker a deal to take him to another Italian side.

Bari, Ancona, Brescia, Sampdoria and Bologna have all held talks over personal terms with the player - but his reported demands of £5,000 a week have proved a stumbling block.

And now Marinelli seems certain to stay on Teesside for the start of the new campaign, which starts three weeks today.

One of his advisors, Marcelo Simonian, said: "I can say with certainty that Marinelli will remain at Middlesbrough."

Failure to sell Marinelli will frustrate manager McClaren, who has been hoping to reduce the club's wage bill and boost his own summer transfer kitty.

So far, the Boro boss has only been able to draft in Brazilian Doriva on a free transfer from Celta Vigo and he is close to snapping up Real Madrid's Flavio Conceicao on a season-long loan.

Meanwhile, Boro midfielder Luke Wilkshire is expected to play some part in today's friendly at Hull City, even though a move to Bristol City is on the cards.

Both clubs have agreed a fee for the 21-year-old and he is expected to meet up with the Second Division Ashton Gate outfit for talks next week.

And City boss Danny Wilson is hopeful of acquiring the Australian's services. "I'm in constant touch with the chairman and hope we can get Luke," said Wilson. "If we can sign Luke as well (as Kilmarnock's Lee Miller) it would be great from my point of view.

"Other clubs are interested but we are still chasing Luke and I would like to think we're in with a chance."

Left-back Franck Queudrue will miss the trip to the KC Stadium after picking up a groin strain. The Frenchman's absence will be the perfect opportunity for McClaren to experiment in that position.

Queudrue is suspended for Boro's first five games of the season, while his deputy David Murphy will miss the start of the campaign with a foot problem.

Experienced and versatile defender Colin Cooper is likely to be the man to fill the void - just days after signing a new one year deal.

Also ruled out of the trip to Hull are Noel Whelan (calf), Michael Ricketts (Achilles), Ugo Ehiogu (knee) and George Boateng (ankle).

Ricketts' unavailability, for Boro's first summer fixture, is a further blow after he returned to pre-season training early in a bid to find full fitness. Doriva will not face Peter Taylor's men, as he is yet to receive international clearance.

Boro squad: Schwarzer, Crossley, Riggott, Southgate, Cooper, Parnaby, Wilson, Greening, Juninho, Nemeth, Maccarone, Christie, Stockdale, Johnston, Wilkshire, Downing, Davies.

Read more about Middlesbrough here.