Aston Villa have moved swiftly to deny a reported interest in Middlesbrough striker Tuncay Sanli after manager Martin O’Neill was spotted “running the rule” over potential transfer targets at Boro’s opening game of the season in the Coca-Cola Championship with Sheffield United on Friday.
The £7 million-rated Turkish International did not play in the game but has been said to have been on the Villa boss’s radar before as O’Neill looks to bolster his squad ahead of the end of the summer transfer window.
Tottenham Hotspur and at least two German clubs, thought to be Stuttgart and Cologne, are also said to be chasing the player’s signature.
But sources at Villa yesterday insisted Tuncay had not been the focus of the visit, O’Neill was simply at the game as a spectator.
Boro boss Gareth Southgate, himself a former Villa defender, has conceded, however, that his side offers rich pickings for Barclays Premier League clubs after relegation at the end of last season.
He also knows he may have to part with some of his big stars to reduce the wage bill at the Riverside.
Southgate admitted that he had been aware of several top flight suitors for his players including Tuncay, former Chelsea and West Bromwich Albion defender Robert Huth and England U21 star David Wheater.
Huth is also a target for Fulham while both would provide Villa with crucial cover at the back with former Danish International Martin Laursen retired through injury, Zat Knight having left for Bolton and Curtis Davies only just back from a persistent shoulder injury.
Southgate does not want to break up his central defensive partnership of Huth and Wheater, particularly after they helped guide his side to a 0-0 draw against the Blades. Clean sheets were a real problem for the Riversiders last season.
But Southgate knows there is still a chance that either player could be enticed away before the August 31 deadline.
“I would rather not sell Huth but I know there are certain things we have to do as a football club,” said Southgate.
“Robert’s approach, however, is first class. It would be fantastic if he could go to the World Cup with Germany and a move might help him to do that.
“But he has told me that he understands that for him to leave, a club has to offer the type of money Middlesbrough want.”
