Boro Abel to do a deal
02 Nov 2006 - 15:39:11
Manager Gareth Southgate has confirmed that Middlesbrough are close to agreeing a deal to bring Abel Xavier back to the club after his one-year drugs ban.
The 33-year-old former Portugal defender was forced to leave Boro after just four appearances at the start of last season, but Southgate is now ready to hand Xavier a return to action.
He told the club's official website: "We are in discussions with him about signing a contract. I think we are pretty much agreed and it is good for us.
"He is an experienced player and he is very popular with the lads here.
"His belief is that there has been a great injustice. He has wanted to fight to clear his name through this period of time and he is the only person who knows the real story.
"For us, it is a case of allowing him the opportunity to rebuild his career.
"I do not think it is for me to judge the rights and wrongs of the sentence or anything else, but he wants to come back and play.
"We have said all along we would give him the opportunity to come and train with us with a view to, if he was looking good, signing back with us.
"We feel he has shown us he is at a level to come into our squad."