Source: Northern_Echo
Alves remains a Boro player, for the moment
THE transfer window closed with Afonso Alves still a Middlesbrough player yesterday evening but the Brazilian could yet complete a £7m move to Qatari side Al-Saad in the next two weeks.
Transfer deadline day passed with neither an incoming nor outgoing at the Riverside, although the Teessiders made unsuccessful bids for both Derby striker Rob Hulse and Ipswich defender Gareth McAuley.
A £3m bid for Hulse foundered when Boro were unable to agree personal terms with the former West Brom, Leeds and Sheffield United forward, while a £1m offer proved insufficient to lure centre-half McAuley from Portman Road.
The Teessiders also considered a last-minute approach to Sheffield United defender Matthew Kilgallon, but most of yesterdays deadline-day interest centred around Alves proposed move to Qatar.
After travelling to the Middle East on Monday, Alves was unable to agree terms with Al- Saad officials despite a sequence of discussions.
However, the Qatari leagues transfer window does not close until September 15, and while Middlesbrough will be unable to make any permanent signings until the start of January apart from out-of-contract players such as Danny Webber they could still sanction Alves departure to the Middle East.
The Brazil international will remain in Qatar for at least the next two or three days, and Boro officials remain hopeful that an agreement can be brokered.
Alves, who is still four weeks away from full fitness, has slowly warmed to the idea of joining Al-Saad, after previously stating he had no desire to leave Europe for Qatars Stars League.
Yesterdays talks hit a number of snags, with the size of Alves wage demands and issues surrounding the strikers image rights understood to have prevented a successful resolution.
But with the Qatari transfer window not due to close for another fortnight, Boros club-record signing could yet complete a permanent transfer to Al-Saad.
Whether Boro boss Gareth Southgate is still keen to see the deal completed remains to be seen though, as the proposed £7m fee can no longer be used to finance permanent additions.
As a result, Southgate may conclude that it will be better to reincorporate Alves into his current squad, and hope a successful spell in the Championship will increase the strikers value when the European transfer window reopens in January.
If Alves was to move in the next two weeks, Southgate would find himself short of strikers after a last-ditch move for Hulse failed.
Having tracked the 29-yearold for the majority of the summer, Middlesbrough finally tabled a £3m bid yesterday morning.
Derby boss Nigel Clough was willing to allow the striker to talk terms with Boro officials, but a brief discussion at the start of the afternoon was enough to convince all parties that a deal was extremely unlikely.
In theory, Boro could still sign Hulse on loan once the window for Football League emergency loans opens in seven days time, but having failed to agree terms yesterday, that is unlikely.
They are more likely to make a move for the out-ofcontract Webber, although a deal for the former Sheffield United striker is likely to be contingent on Alves leaving the North-East.
Webber, who has already discussed personal terms at Rockliffe Park, is free to sign for new employers outside the transfer window.
The same does not apply to McAuley, who had been targeted as a replacement for Robert Huth, who completed a £5m move to Stoke City at the end of last week.
McAuley is surplus to requirements at Ipswich but Boro were unable to push through a deal for the Northern Ireland international.
While the lack of new signings will frustrate supporters, the disappointment will be tempered by the retention of both David Wheater and Adam Johnson.
And Boro rebuffed a late approach from Fulham to take Jeremie Aliadiere on a three-month loan with a view to a permanent transfer in January.
