Boro target has other options

MIDDLESBROUGH are hoping the lure of playing English football will be enough to persuade Dutch playmaker Anouar Hadouir to bide his time before making his next move.

The Roda JC forward has expressed an interest in joining Boro after meeting Tony Mowbray and being shown around the club’s facilities and training ground.

But Middlesbrough are not in a position to finalise the deal until they have freed up some of their wage budget, which chairman Steve Gibson is keen to trim by more than half this summer.

And while the wait goes on for departures, Hadouir has attracted interest from the Eredivisie and the Middle East and are prepared to offer him an alternative to the Championship.

Feyenoord have been in touch with the player’s representative and so have an unnamed club from Saudi Arabia, where he would be able to command a far more lucrative contract than on offer at the Riverside Stadium.

Hadouir, however, is keen to test himself in England and after reaching the end of his contract at Roda he feels the time is right to move across the North Sea as a free agent.

But the 28-year-old, who has Moroccan parents, will always be open to different offers until Boro can seal the deal.

Mowbray will be returning to work next week in the hope of making quick progress on the transfer front.

With Kris Boyd’s proposed move to Nottingham Forest effectively off following the sacking of Billy Davies and the appointment of Steve McClaren at the City Ground, it is looking increasingly likely he will be still on Teesside in pre-season.

Boyd, who has attracted interest from Turkey where he resisted offers 12 months ago, is one of the high earning members of Mowbray’s squad that they would like to move on.

Didier Digard and Scott McDonald are also available, while Julio Arca and Andrew Taylor are yet to sign the new deals on reduced terms that were offered to them last month.