Boro tabled an offer for the right-back this week, and while Rovers are yet to officially respond, Brittain has now made it clear to Ewood Park chiefs that he’s interested in the move to the Riverside.
Derby County have also bid for the 27-year-old, with John Eustace keen to reunite with the defender, who was a key part of his Blackburn team, but Boro are in pole position, according to our sister paper the Lancashire Telegraph.
Brittain has now moved into the last 12 months of his contract at Blackburn, who were hopeful they could agree an extension with the right-back at the start of the summer.
But there’s now a reluctant acceptance at Ewood Park that an agreement won’t be reached with Brittain, and boss Valerien Ismael said today: “It’s clear that, financially, the club needs to make a deal because of his contract.”
Brittain has emerged as Boro’s leading target at right-back, which is a transfer priority for Riverside officials. The defender is coming off the back of the best season of his career and was an integral player for Blackburn, who finished above Boro in the Championship table.
Boro’s offer remains on the table and while a deal has not yet been agreed, Ismael has pleaded for “clarity” and called on Blackburn chiefs to ensure the matter is resolved in the coming week.
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After Blackburn’s 2-1 friendly win over Accrington, Ismael told the Lancashire Telegraph: “We’ve got an offer on the table. Callum decided not to play today on his own.
“He took this decision. So I spoke with him. I said we can let this game pass but from next week, we hope to have clarity.
“We can’t do this every week. In the next few days, we will see what is happening. It’s clear that some clubs are very interested, especially one that is very interested in Callum. Nothing has been agreed yet.
“The clubs need to understand that Callum is a significant player for us, for me personally as well. So we don’t want to let him go. But it’s clear that, financially, the club needs to make a deal because of his contract.
“If the players still have a one-year contract, we have to learn from the situation, what’s happened with Tyrhys Dolan. Now we’re chasing the situation after mistakes from the past.
“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.”
Ismael added: “He took his decision to go. We made an offer. We made a very big effort for him. He has an offer he wants to take. So this is a rule in football. So we accept that.
“It’s nothing personal, we know that. At some point, everyone has to be happy. At the moment, I think that’s just a question of time to come over the line.
“If we are not able to go over the line until the middle of the week, he will train and be back with us.”
In another encouraging development, Boro have held positive discussions with Hull City over Alfie Jones.
Boro are understood to be long-term admirers of Jones, who has been a stable and consistent presence at the heart of Hull’s defence for a number of years. City’s vice-captain started 37 of their 46 Championship games last season.
Hull are aware of Boro’s interest and although talks are at an early stage, a £2m move has been discussed and the Tigers – currently under a transfer embargo, which they’ve confirmed they are appealing against – would be unlikely to reject an offer in that region.
Strengthening in the centre of defence was always in Boro’s thinking this summer, regardless of what happens with in-demand Rav van den Berg, who is attracting interest in the Premier League and Germany, where Stuttgart, Wolfsburg and Werder Bremen are all keen.
George Edmundson, Darragh Lenihan and Dael Fry all endured injury struggles last season, and the latter two are out of contract next summer, as things stand.
Boro return to the UK on Sunday after their week-long training camp in Portugal ended with a behind-closed-doors friendly on Saturday.
Boro went down 1-0 to CD Santa Clara, but boss Rob Edwards was encouraged by lots of what he saw in the game and over the course of the week.
He said: “It’s been a brilliant week, really enjoyable.
“Pre-season is about building fitness, more organisation and understanding and building a spirit and cohesion. We’ve ticked all those boxes over the week.
“Everyone will look at the result. We want to build a winning culture and environment, so we’re disappointed with the result, but with our performance that shouldn’t have been the result.”