Middlesbrough push for Callum Brittain Blackburn breakthrough

Middlesbrough push for Callum Brittain Blackburn breakthrough



Brittain is understood to be keen on the move to Middlesbrough, who made an offer for the 27-year-old last week.

Amid the uncertainty surrounding his future, Brittain missed Blackburn’s opening pre-season friendly against Accrington, with boss Valerien Ismael stressing the need for “clarity” and urgency in transfer talks.

But there hasn’t yet been a breakthrough.

Despite missing Saturday’s friendly, Brittain reported to training as usual on Monday morning, reports the Lancashire Telegraph.

Although the right-back has made it known he wishes to speak to Middlesbrough, he has a good relationship with Ismael, who was previously his manager at Barnsley, and doesn’t want his time at Blackburn to end on a sour note.

And Ismael made it clear last week he wouldn’t tolerate Brittain being completely absent for any prolonged period of time while he was still a Blackburn player.

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Boro understandably want a breakthrough to come sooner rather than later, though, with right-back identified as their top transfer priority this summer and Brittain – who was one of the Championship’s best performers in the position last season – their leading target.

Derby County also made a move for Brittain last week, but the former MK Dons youngster is understood to have made it clear a move to Boro would be his preference.

Brittain has now moved into the last year of his contract at Ewood Park, and while Blackburn started the summer confident they’d be able to agree an extension with the defender, they’ve now reluctantly accepted that is unlikely.

With that in mind, Blackburn have been backed into a corner, and Ismael said at the weekend: “It’s clear that, financially, the club needs to make a deal because of his contract.”

He did add, however: “It’s about the club. What is the best for the club? If the player wants to go as an offer, the club has to give the value of the player.”

What is not yet clear is whether, if the situation remains unchanged in the next day or two, Brittain will be involved in Blackburn’s pre-season friendly against Everton on Saturday.

As well as pushing to sign Brittain, Boro have held talks with Hull City over Alfie Jones, who is currently out in Turkey with the Tigers in their pre-season training camp.

Reports from the Hull end at the weekend claimed City would be unlikely to reject an offer in the region of £2m.

As reported by the Northern Echo earlier this week, Boro have also held talks with former England striker Danny Ings, who is a free agent after leaving West Ham this summer.



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