Boro face battle to keep loan star Geremi

In his short time on Teesside, the Cameroon midfielder has quickly adapted to the pace of the English game and he was again impressive in the 1-1 draw with Chelsea as Boro preserved their unbeaten run at home.

But as Geremi is only on a loan contract until the end of the current campaign, there is every chance that the Teessiders could lose out on a player who is being regarded, and quite rightly so, as one of the best midfielders in the top-flight.

And what is worrying for the Riverside faithful is that the 23-year-old schemer has hinted he could turn his back on this country and return to his employers Real Madrid in May.

"I cannot think about that just yet, I'm only thinking of this year," he said. "I will play this year, but it is possible I'll go back to Madrid. After all I have a contract there, we will have to see what happens."

But Geremi was quick to stress that he is enjoying the hustle and bustle of football on these shores and he is desperate to help Boro achieve their targets of a top six place this season.

"I'm here for this year," he said. "Everyone works hard and everyone has a great attitude.

"The first thing I learnt about football over here was that you get hit hard. And you have to play hard back to get results. I enjoy myself here and I try to do my best to help Boro.

"If Boro enjoy my time here as well then we will all be happy."

The way the World Cup star is performing for Boro, it will not be too long before a host of clubs start to knock on Real's door inquiring about acquiring his services. And Boro boss Steve McClaren admits he is expecting competition for Geremi next summer, but he believes his club hold the upper hand when it is time to sit round the negotiating table.

"We are in prime position because he is playing for us and he's enjoying his football," said McClaren, who is understood to have already paid £1.2m for the season-long loan move.

"We will sit down and discuss it further when the time is right.

"The way he is playing at the moment he is alerting everybody. That's why we got him and that's why we signed him.

"That's one of the risks of taking a player on loan. It's a gamble in one way, but what we have to do is make sure he enjoys himself and wants to stay."

Geremi's fourth goal of the season - he is now the club's joint top-scorer with Massimo Maccarone and Szilard Nemeth - came on 32 minutes from a wonderful free-kick, which was awarded in controversial circumstances.

Lively Jonathan Greening's bursting run past three Chelsea men led to Emmanuel Petit making a last ditch attempt to tackle. The Frenchman won the ball, but the referee Matt Messias judged he took the man first.

Then from 25 yards out, Geremi curled his right-foot effort beyond the wall and into Carlo Cudicini's top left corner.

And it left the goalscorer, who nearly joined the Blues in the summer, delighted, he said: "It was a very special goal for me. I have practised hundreds and hundreds of free-kicks and even in the matches they usually miss. It was nice for one of them to go in."

Seconds later Chelsea's little wizard Gianfranco Zola weaved his magic by beating Gareth Southgate, then playing the ball through the legs of Queudrue, but the Italian's shot was easily saved by Mark Schwarzer.

Zola's fellow countryman Massimo Maccarone - hauled off at half-time - then suffered the humiliation of one of the worst misses of the season when he failed to find the target after some good work by Szilard Nemeth down the right.

And on 42 minutes it proved costly. Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink's corner was not dealt with and the ball fell to John Terry - in for the absent Marcel Desailly - and he poked the ball home to level matters.

It was a thrilling encounter between two sides desperate to claim the victory to propel them further up the table.

Three points for Chelsea would have lifted them top for at least 24 hours and Boro were hoping to earn only their third win in nine League matches.

Just after the hour, the move of the match resulted in Nemeth putting the ball in the back of the net - but the linesman wrongly put his flag up for offside.

Greening, Stuart Parnaby and the hard-working Alen Boksic combined well with Nemeth who latched onto Boksic's through ball and his low shot was too good for Cudicini - but the referee's assistant flagged despite the Slovakian being at least two yards onside.

Noel Whelan had a header saved for the hosts, while Boudewijn Zenden and Frank Lampard had shots saved by Schwarzer, as the game ended all square.

But Boro remain ninth and they ensured their best top-flight start at home for 90 years continues.

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