Middlesbrough have failed in a bid to land Barcelona's £7m Spanish star Dani before Saturday's crucial home game against Charlton.

Boss Bryan Robson was abroad yesterday with a Boro delegation, having been given the green light to move for the 26-year-old marksman.

But Dani appears to be in no hurry to make up his mind after being told that the Catalan giants are willing to release him.

Robson said: "Nothing imminent is going to happen. We are watching a number of players."

Dani has been a Boro target since last summer, when the Teessiders were put off by a £12m price tag.

Now the fee may have come down but the striker is not sure that he wants to leave. He remains unsettled at Barcelona but it's understood he is looking for a second chance at the Nou Camp.

The striker is highly rated in Spain and it would take something special to persuade him to join Boro's survival battle.

Boro will tempt the reluctant 6ft 2in hitman with an annual £2m wage package but even that might not be enough.

The other alternative could be for Boro to try for Dani on loan for the rest of the season.

Robson is in the hunt for a top striker before the transfer deadline after watching the team notch five goals in the last seven games.

l Premier League officials are to visit Liverpool in a bid to solve the long-running dispute with Middlesbrough over the transfer of German international Christian Ziege.

Liverpool took advantage of a get-out clause in Ziege's contract when they signed the wing-back from Boro for £5.5m at the start of the season.

The Teessiders claim Liverpool made an illegal approach and that the clause, negotiated when manager Bryan Robson signed Ziege from AC Milan for £4m, was put in on compassionate grounds.

Chairman Steve Gibson claimed: ''We believe that both Christian and Liverpool broke the rules of the Premier League.'