MIDO was last night waiting for Tottenham to give the go ahead for Middlesbrough to finalise a £6.8m deal for the Egyptian which will leave neighbours Sunderland empty handed.

The Black Cats tried to derail Boro's attempts to land the former Roma forward by offering £1.5m more on the same day contract talks had already been agreed between the player and the club.

Sunderland's last minute move meant a planned appearance at the Riverside on Saturday had to be carpeted in fear of the deal collapsing.

However, with Mido expected on Teesside today to comple the move to Teesside rather than Wearside, Middlesbrough chief executive Keith Lamb has agreed a deal with Tottenham once again.

Despite Sunderland's willingness to maker an offer worth £7.5m - some £700,000 more than their Premier League counterparts have raised their earlier £6m bid to - Lamb is understood to have been successful.

It appears Middlesbrough's up-front payment is far superior to that lying on the table from Sunderland, persuading the North London club to accept a bid that will eventually turn out to be less.

With another striker target likely to be opting against a switch to Sunderland, bossRoy Keane is having to examine his options once again.

Former Manchester United team-mate Andy Cole remains a solid option, although there would appear to be few other alternatives to the Black Cats manager.

There was an admission from Keane last week that Cole could become a target and now there could be something concrete offered to the former Newcastle striker, now 35.

Cole recently cancelled his contract at Portsmouth and he would bring experience to a forward line that is full of youth, even more so following the acquisition of Cork's Roy O'Donovan.

Keane has spent approaching £30m this summer but would still prefer to spend more.

And his second most expensive recruit, Kieran Richardson, has been backed to succeed by Sir Alex Ferguson.

Ferguson agreed to sell the winger for £5.5m earlier this summer and feels that if the best is to be brought out of him then he needs to feel loved.

"I let Kieran Richardson go mainly because some fans were getting on his back and I don't like that," said Ferguson.

"Kieran has great ability, but it isn't going to flourish if he hasn't got everyone behind him.

"So when Sunderland made a good offer, I decided to accept and send him on his way with our best wishes."

Meanwhile, Craig Gordon and Russell Anderson have been named in Scotland's squad to face South Africa at Pittodrie on August 22.