TONY Mowbray is close to completing a loan deal for Stoke defender Andrew Davies, but reluctantly accepts midfielder Julio Arca will leave Middlesbrough this summer.

Davies spent more than a month training with Boro's first-team squad at the turn of the year, but the Teessiders were unable to agree a deal for the Stockton-born 26-year-old in the transfer window.

He returned to Stoke in the week leading up to deadline day, but does not feature in Tony Pulis' 25-man squad and is unable to make a senior appearance for the Potters in the remainder of the season.

Mowbray has contacted Pulis this week and offered to take Davies on loan, but is unable to fund the former Boro defender's wages for the final three months of the campaign.

However, with a compromise close, there is every chance of a deal being agreed before the start of next week.

"There's a potential for a loan deal to happen," confirmed Mowbray. "Andrew was here for four or five weeks, but the weather meant we didn't see a lot of him.

"He wasn't really ready then because he hadn't played any football for 18 months. We were basically facilitating him training and getting right.

"His fitness is better now though, and I've asked the question to Stoke. The difficulty is finance. We're not really in a position to add an extra salary on top of the salaries were already paying.

"It will need an agreement with Stoke, and that agreement will have to be financially favourable to us. There's the potential for something to happen because he's not in their 25 and he's not going to play. I think they've had other inquiries, but knowing Andrew, if there's a potential to move on loan, I think he'd like to come here."

Davies' arrival would bolster a defence that will be without both Matthew Bates and Stephen McManus for at least the next three weeks.

Boro's midfield has been similarly decimated through injury, although Arca and Andrew Taylor should both be available for tomorrow's trip to Millwall after coming through a light training yesterday unscathed.

Arca has been Boro's best player in recent weeks, but Mowbray is already resigned to losing the Argentinian in the summer.

Arca's contract will expire at the end of the season, and while Mowbray would love to keep him at Rockliffe Park, his wages, which are understood to be around £30,000-a-week, make a new deal all but impossible.

Premier League strugglers Wigan are hoping to lure Arca to the DW Stadium, and will be willing to offer much more than Boro.

"There's not a lot we can do about Julio," said Mowbray. "He was signed when we were in the Premier League and he's on Premier League money.

"His contract is expiring at a level that is unsustainable for us. I really like him as a footballer and a man. He really buys into the way we want to do things, and his performance level suggests he likes the way we're trying to do things.

"There's a perception that he must be old because he's been around so long, but he only turned 30 a couple of weeks ago. He has a lot of football still to play, and a lot of earning power in the remainder of his career. Reluctantly, we have to admit there's a fair chance that, come the summer, Julio will leave."

There is also a strong possibility Kris Boyd will be heading to pastures new come the close season, but while the Scotland international was the subject of a tentative inquiry from America earlier this month, he will not be crossing the Atlantic to play in the MLS.

"There was a little bit of discussion about Kris possibly moving to America a few weeks back," said Mowbray. "But I don't think that's going to happen now."

Boyd is likely to be on the bench at the New Den tomorrow, but long-term absentees Willo Flood and Rhys Williams will not be involved despite playing 45 minutes of a behind-closed-doors game with Sheffield United on Wednesday.

"They've been out a long time," said Mowbray. "They've had two or three weeks training, but that hasn't been with the first team.

"It's got to the point where they've played part of a behind-closed-doors game, but they're still two or three weeks away from even being considered for a place in the team. They're still on the pathway back to the first team."