Boro boss blames the agents for wrecking McClaren’s rebuilding plan

MIDDLESBROUGH chairman Steve Gibson has hit out at the agents he claims disrupted Steve McClaren’s summer rebuilding work after claiming that they were asked for £700,000 just to speak to Sean Davis.

Boro eventually managed to recruit big names Gaizka Mendieta and Boudewijn Zenden on loan, as well as the likes of Danny Mills, Alan Wright and Carlo Nash, but saw a succession of targets go elsewhere.

However, Gibson insists his club was not repeatedly snubbed, claiming only Brazilian midfielder Flavio Conceicao actually turned down a move to the Riverside.

He told the club's official website, www.mfc.co.uk: "We'd agreed a fee with Fulham for Davis and were about to make an offer which we felt was a very, very good and enticing one for the player.

"But we weren't allowed to speak to him and were told quite clearly we had to come to a settlement with his agency, and that request was for £700,000.

"At that point, Middlesbrough Football Club walked away from the Sean Davis deal.

"There were other enquiries we made which were not dissimilar and if the package is not right for the football club, we will not be panicked into making a decision which is not the right one.

"The truth is, we made enquiries about several players and none of them except one Flavio Conceicao turned us down.

"The rest we walked away from because the overall package was not right for us in terms of the transfer fee, wages and something we are very strict on, the demands of players' agents."

Boro suffered a frustrating few months as they were made to bide their time, and McClaren has already admitted that a failure to recruit the men he wanted soon enough has affected their start to the season, which has brought just a single point from four games.

But Gibson believes he and his manager have been rewarded for sticking to their guns.

He said: "Ideally we would have liked to have brought them in a month or two earlier," he said.

"It was a long summer, perhaps with some disappointment in there, but in the end it's been very pleasing," he added.

Boro were linked with, among others, Conceicao, Brett Emerton, Trevor Sinclair, David Dunn, Stephane Dalmat and Kevin Phillips during the summer, with the former Sunderland striker admitting this week he would have jumped at the chance to play on Teesside.

However, Boro were not prepared to meet the Black Cats' £4m valuation, and the 30-year-old eventually returned to former club Southampton in a £3.25m switch