MIDDLESBROUGH are waiting for news on their pursuit of Tottenham midfielder Luke Amos, with Neil Warnock admitting “utility players” could be especially important next season.

Boro’s recruitment team have discussed Amos’ position with the Tottenham hierarchy and are hoping to pull off a permanent deal for the 23-year-old.

However, QPR are also keen to sign Amos this summer, and are hoping the midfielder’s loan spell at Loftus Road will work in their favour as they attempt to beat off Boro’s competition to secure a deal.

Amos made 34 Championship appearances for QPR last term, striking up a good relationship with Hoops boss Mark Warburton.

He still has one more year of his current contract at Tottenham to run, but Jose Mourinho does not envisage him featuring with the first team and the Spurs boss has instructed those above him to move Amos on.

The former Spurs academy product was valued at around £1.5m when his future was the subject of speculation last summer, but his current employers accept they are unlikely to secure that kind of fee in the current climate and are set to sell him for a six-figure price.

Boro are willing to meet Spurs’ demands, although it remains to be seen whether the lure of remaining in London with QPR proves too strong to resist.

Amos has spent most of his career playing as a defensive midfielder, but he can also operate in a more attacking position or as a centre-half or full-back.

His versatility is regarded as one of his biggest assets by Warnock, with the Boro boss actively targeting utility players this summer.

With the new Championship season due to begin on September 12, there is going to be a very short turnaround between the end of the last season and the start of the new campaign and Warnock anticipates all clubs experiencing a high number of injury issues over the course of the next 12 months. As a result, players who can perform in a number of different roles will be especially useful.

“As you saw last weekend with the FA Cup final, it’s a strange situation at the moment,” said the Boro boss. “We might have all the modern technology and computers telling us everything, but when you get two hamstrings and a dislocated shoulder in 90 minutes, there’s something wrong somewhere.

“We’ve never been in a situation where we’re almost playing 12 months of the season, and I do worry a little bit about that. We do have to have a squad with one or two utility players in it.”

As well as trying to push through a deal for Amos, Boro officials have also spent the last week negotiating with Northampton Town over their skipper Charlie Goode.

Warnock would like to sign Goode, who was the defensive lynchpin of Northampton’s promotion from League Two via the play-offs last season.

However, Northampton are understood to be holding out for a fee or at least £1m for the 24-year-old, and Boro are reluctant to be drawn into a bidding war with a number of other Championship clubs also known to be interested.

Northampton boss Keith Curle has confirmed his club have received a couple of formal offers for Goode, but is adamant he will not have to sell unless certain conditions are met.

“There has been firm interest in Charlie, and there have been a couple of bids, and rightly so,” said Curle. “In my mind, Charlie Goode is on a massive upward curve, but so are we as a club. What we’ve said to Charlie is that we want to maintain that upward curve together, and that’s what we’re trying to do.

“We haven’t got to sell Charlie. We don’t want to sell Charlie, and we don’t need to sell Charlie, and that’s a fantastic position for us as a football club to be in because we want to bring good players to the club that are value for money – on and off the pitch.”

Meanwhile, Warnock is putting the finishing touches to Boro’s pre-season programme, with a training camp in Cornwall a central part of his plans despite the ongoing issues caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Plymouth Argyle are set to share their training base with Boro, and could also take part in a couple of friendly games, while non-league side Liskeard Athletic have used social media to confirm that Boro’s players will be using their facilities.

“I’ve said to Neil, ‘Bring the lads down, and what’s ours is yours’,” said Plymouth boss Ryan Lowe.