AFTER months of uncertainty surrounding his future, Middlesbrough’s Andrew Taylor hopes to sign a new contract with the club soon after admitting he is happy with life on Teesside.
Taylor’s current deal at the Riverside is set to expire at the end of this month, and he has been in contract negotiations with Boro since the season ended last month.
With Boro keen to cut their current wage bill of £20m by 50 per cent, Taylor, along with Argentine Julio Arca, have been offered new deals on reduced terms.
Boro boss Tony Mowbray has made it clear he would like to keep Taylor and Arca at the club as he looks to mount a serious promotion challenge next season, but it is down to the players whether they are prepared to take a wage cut.
Hartlepool-born Taylor spent the first half of last season on loan at Watford after falling out-of-favour with former boss Gordon Strachan, but he returned in January and became an immediate regular in Mowbray’s starting XI.
Despite the possibility of taking a pay-cut in order to stay at the club he has been at since 2004, the 24-year-old admits he is happy at the Riverside and hopes his future will be sorted soon.
“We’re in negotiations,” the defender-turned-midfielder revealed.
“I like the manager and I enjoyed it last season when I came back after my loan at Watford had ended.
“I’m happy at Boro and hopefully everything will get sorted out.”
Meanwhile, Boro’s hopes of offloading Kris Boyd to Nottingham Forest took a serious hit after it was announced yesterday that the club had sacked manager Billy Davies.
After failing to impress Mowbray, Boyd was sent out on loan to the City Ground as part of the deal that brought goalkeeper Paul Smith to the Riverside.
As one of the club’s top earners, Boro are keen to move Boyd on and the hope had been that Forest would make a permanent move for the striker, who scored six goals in 12 appearances for Davies’ side.
However, after Davies’ dismissal, chances of that happening have diminished.
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