David Wheater won't be held back at Boro
Dec 28 2010 by Mark Douglas, The Journal
MIDDLESBROUGH boss Tony Mowbray has put David Wheater’s Premier League admirers on alert by admitting they are looking to cash in on the highly-rated defender.
Struggling Wolves, Aston Villa and Bolton are all eyeing the Redcar-born centre-back – while Newcastle United had been credited with an interest before Steven Taylor committed his long-term future to the club.
The 22-year-old is sure to be watched by a clutch of top-flight scouts at Preston this afternoon, and Mowbray admits he may have no choice but to consider offers when the January transfer window opens on Saturday.
It is unclear exactly what the implications of failing to regain their Premier League status will be for the Teessiders but – requiring a near-miraculous reversal of fortune to get even close to the play-offs – they are sure to entertain all serious enquiries for their top players.
Losing Wheater would be a serious blow to Mowbray’s struggling side but the Boro boss is relaxed about the prospect of losing the former England under-21 man.
“David has always said he is a huge Boro fan and his family are all huge Boro fans too,” he said. “But he understandably wants to play in the Premier League and we’re not in a position to give him that right now.
“But the scenario we wouldn’t want is for him to stay here and spend the next six months playing for our team and then walk away for nothing.
“He is a player that this club has nurtured and brought up through the Academy. He has given us a lot of good years, of course, but I think it works both ways. We find ourselves in a situation where we need something back for a player that we can try and re-invest back into the team, rather than him walking away on a Bosman.”
With money short, generating a transfer fund will be Mowbray’s priority at the turn of the year. And that means the likes of Gary O’Neil and Kris Boyd could also be sold on so that the Boro boss can address the serious problems with his Boro squad.
“What I’ve found at the club is that we don’t necessarily have the right balance,” he said.
“When I got here I found that there wasn’t a great deal of pace in the team in the forward areas, or width. We weren’t creating enough chances and we’re not scoring enough goals.
“I’ve got no problems with the performance level of the team – that has been as good as anyone we’ve played against. But you have to score goals to win matches. You try to find a formula to change it – we have no wingers, we have no classic No.10, who spends his time creating chances, beating people and putting the ball on a plate for a goalscorer. So the balance isn’t right, and if in January I can get that right by moving somebody out to create a space, to give us a little bit of budget to add another player, then great.” While the January transfer window is sure to be an intriguing one at the Riverside, the more pressing issue is the trip to struggling North End at Deepdale.
Preston are bottom of the Championship but a win for North End would see them move ahead of Mowbray’s men and see Boro start the New Year in serious trouble. “We are not under-playing the importance and the significance of this one,” Mowbray said. “Our target is to turn some of our recent positive performances into a positive result.
“Preston have a bit of quality, despite their league position, so we won’t be going there thinking of them as a bottom of the league team.”
