Source: SKY_Sports
Southgate wants Huth stay
Middlesbrough boss Gareth Southgate insists he wants to keep Robert Huth at the club.
Huth has been strongly linked with a move to Stoke in the last few days with reports suggesting the German is keen on a move away from the Riverside.
However, Southgate says the former Chelsea defender has not informed him that he wants to quit the Championship side and he does not want the player to leave Teesside.
"He's a player I don't want to lose," Southgate said.
"He's obviously in a World Cup year and it could be a difficult one for us. But he's expressed no desire to leave to join any of the clubs who have been interested in him and the club haven't received a bid that we would consider anyway.
"Robert has been outstanding through pre-season, we know what qualities he has as a defender and I made him captain because he has been displaying leadership qualities."
Meanwhile, Southgate confirmed that the club is yet to receive a bid for Turkey international Tuncay Sanli, who has been linked repeatedly with Aston Villa, while talks are continuing with several clubs over the future of record signing Afonso Alves.
The manager had previously revealed that the Teessiders accepted a bid from one club, understood to be a Qatari outfit, for the Brazilian, who is now being linked with a return to Holland with Ajax.
Southgate said: "There are no firm bids on the table for Tuncay. As I said last week, we have had one bid for Afonso, which we accepted, but it doesn't look as if he wants to go to the club that made that bid.
"We are in talks with a couple of other clubs on him, but in terms of firm offers on the table, that's it."
