MIDDLESBROUGH manager Tony Mowbray was visibly frustrated when asked about the long drawn out David Wheater saga after his side’s 4-0 win at Bristol City.

The Boro boss revealed a deal had been struck between the seller and a buyer last week, only for the defender’s transfer to stall on a minor technical detail.

It is believed Bolton tabled a £2.5m bid, rising to £4m on appearances, only to back out at the last minute when they decided they could not afford the highly-rated defender.

Mowbray would not name names but was clearly disappointed the transfer had fallen down.

“In an ideal world he gets sold,” said the 47-year-old. “It seems a strange thing to say but otherwise he will walk away for nothing in the summer.

“He is an exceptionally talented boy as you could see today. Nothing seems to faze him. He gets his head on everything; he gets himself in good positions; he’s comfortable on the ball and he’s fast.

“Tragedy is probably too strong a word, but it would be a shame for him to walk away for nothing after all the development the club has put in to David.

“It is out of his hands and a lot of things have to happen in modern day football for a transfer to happen. Lots of parties have to agree to things. But there’s a couple of weeks to go before the deadline and we’ll have to see.”

In a perfect world Wheater would stay at the Riverside and help his home town club fight against relegation before mounting a challenge for promotion next term.

But for financial reasons the Redcar-born centre half, and several other high earners, have to be sold so Mowbray can rebuild and restructure the future of the club.

“The most important thing is to get the best deal for the people of Middlesbrough Football Club. We need to get some stability in our finances, that is the bottom line.

“If David stays and we get no money for him we have to redress the financial situation somewhere down the line. The sooner we can redress the financial difficulties we can start to build again. Otherwise there will be a huge job in the summer and I’ll be talking about a transitional period.

“There has been no movement in the last couple of days and it seems to have hit a stalemate.

“We thought there was a deal on the table and we thought it was going to get done. I can’t tell you the reason it didn’t get done but there are lots of people to agree on things to make any deal happen. Most of the things were sorted and yet one component didn’t fit last week and so it fell down.

“A few clubs had inquired about him. Last week we had a firm bid that was accepted but it is probably not wise for me to discuss which club it was.”

Another with an uncertain future is Andrew Taylor. The defender, who returned to Mowbray’s line-up on Saturday after a three-month loan at Watford, flourished in an unfamiliar left midfield role in Boro’s 4-0 victory.

“I’ve enjoyed my time at Watford but I don’t know what the future holds,” he said. “I wasn’t happy here under the previous regime but since I’ve returned I have seen a change around the place.”

Meanwhile, Kevin Thompson may be out for the rest of the season after suffering a hairline fracture in the same place where he broke his leg earlier this term.