Source: SKY_Sports
Boro eye Downing benefit
Middlesbrough chief executive Keith Lamb insists it will be a huge boost to the club if Stewart Downing is playing for them in the Championship.
Boro had told Downing that he would be allowed to leave the club in the summer, if a reasonable offer was received.
However, Downing broke his foot at the end of last season and needed an operation to pin the injury.
He is now looking at up to six months on the sidelines, which looks set to scupper any hopes of a summer move for the England international.
But Lamb refuses to see Downing's injury as a negative and feels the club will benefit hugely if the 24-year-old is playing in the Championship.
"The strategy has always been that if the right club comes in for Stewart and it's right for Middlesbrough, then we will let him leave," he told the Evening Gazette.
"Because of the nature of the injury that Stewart has sustained, we will have to see if, and when, that happens.
"The extent of his injury suggests that we will have to wait.
"But if Stewart is still here in September, then we will be delighted.
"We don't know how long he will be out, but I believe that he will overcome the injury reasonably quickly.
"It means that we will have him playing for us in the Championship terrorising defences, and that's got to be a good thing for Middlesbrough."
With Downing's sale now further on the horizon, Boro could be forced to cash in elsewhere this summer.
Robert Huth, Afonso Alves and Gary O'Neil were all likely sales anyway, but the likes of Adam Johnson and David Wheater could also be possible departures.
