MIDDLESBROUGH misfit Mohamed Shawky is poised to return to his native Egypt and re-sign for his former club Al Ahly.

Shawky, who has spent the last fortnight representing his national side in the Confederations Cup, is desperate to return to Egypt after an unsuccessful two-year spell on Teesside.

The 27-year-old midfielder has made just 14 starts in his two seasons in English football, and Boro boss Gareth Southgate is willing to dispense with his services this summer.

There has been interest from Qatar, but reigning Egyptian champions Al Ahly are expected to make a formal approach to Boro officials this week in an attempt to re-sign a player who left Cairo in August 2007.

“I have spoken to Shawky and he is interested in a return to Ahly,” said Al Ahly head coach Hossan Al-Badri.

“He is still considering an offer from Qatar, so everything is far from complete.

But we will definitely be doing our best to sign him in the transfer window.”

Shawky’s departure would deplete a Middlesbrough midfield that was already short of numbers last season.

Gary O’Neil is also expected to leave before the transfer window swings shut at the end of August, and while Southgate completed the capture of one midfielder when Mark Yeates made a £500,000 move from Colchester on Friday, the Boro manager will sign at least one more central player before the end of the summer.

Meanwhile, Sunderland striker Anthony Stokes will spend next season on loan at Scottish Premier League side Hibernian.

Stokes did not make a single senior start for the Black Cats last season, and new boss Steve Bruce does not see him as an integral part of his plans for the forthcoming campaign.

Hibernian cannot afford to sign Stokes on a permanent basis, and cannot even afford to pay the weekly wage that the Republic of Ireland international earns at the Stadium of Light.

However, Bruce, who is eyeing both Tottenham striker Darren Bent and Portsmouth marksman Peter Crouch, has agreed to loan Stokes to the Scottish club for a season.

Sunderland will continue to pay a proportion of his wages in return for a recall clause that will enable them to reclaim him at any moment.

The move will see Stokes reunited with new Hibs boss John Hughes, who was his manager at Falkirk when he scored 14 goals in 16 games during a previous loan spell from north London club Arsenal three years ago.