Boro warn Spurs off Downing

Middlesbrough have told Tottenham not to bother making another bid to sign England midfielder Stewart Downing.

Reports today suggested Spurs are ready to increase the £6m (€8.8m) offer they made last summer to £7.5m (€11m).

However, Boro chief executive Keith Lamb insisted no contact has been made and warned that any approach would be rebuffed.

“Stewart Downing is not for sale,” he said. “We are building a team, not dismantling one. “We have had no contact about him and we don’t expect, or want, any.”

The Londoners, after several weeks of speculation, eventually tabled a bid for the now 21-year-old in July last year, but Boro rejected it out of hand.

Downing, who will play for England B against Belarus tonight as he attempts to force his way into Sven-Goran Eriksson’s World Cup reckoning, spent the first half of last season on the sidelines due to a knee injury but returned to his best form as the campaign drew to a close.