Boro play down Heskey link

Middlesbrough have played down reports they have entered into talks with Liverpool striker Emile Heskey over a move to Teesside.

Boro maintain claims negotiations have already taken place are wide of the mark, although they have added little else as speculation mounts over the England international’s future at Anfield.

What is not in any doubt is that manager Steve McClaren will look to add firepower to his squad during this month’s transfer window – and that Heskey is the calibre of player he would dearly love to recruit.

McClaren has invested heavily during his time at the Riverside Stadium in the likes of record-signing Massimo Maccarone, Michael Ricketts and Malcolm Christie.

But as yet, neither they nor Szilard Nemeth or Joseph Job have proved on a sustained basis that they could be the 20-goal-a-season striker for which every Barclaycard Premiership manager is looking.

Boro have also been linked with the likes of Andy Cole, Dwight Yorke, Mark Viduka, Chris Sutton and John Hartson in recent weeks and are scouting exhaustively in Europe.

Heskey, who worked with McClaren during his time in the England set-up, has not been as prolific a scorer as any of those frontmen, but he is undoubtedly a physical presence – and that too is something the Teessiders have lacked at times.

However, any pursuit of the Liverpool striker could be hampered by the fact the striker – who has 18 months of his current contract remaining – seems determined to stick it out on Merseyside, and that Boro might struggle to find a fee ranging anywhere between £5m (€7.2m) and £7m (€10m) in one swoop.

The Teessiders have conducted much of their most recent business by way of a series of financial agreements which have involved phased or delayed payments, and with their legal wrangle over Liverpool’s capture of Christian Ziege in August 2000 still to be resolved, the chances of an accommodation being reached seem remote.

McClaren has also had to take account of the news earlier this week that Manchester United midfielder Nicky Butt is available, and that may yet have a major bearing on his spending plans.