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MIDDLESBROUGH v SPURS - WOODGATE CAN LURE OTHERS: SOUTHGATE
Middlesbrough boss Gareth Southgate will use England star Jonathan Woodgate as a lure to land his summer targets.
The 27-year-old central defender completed a £7million permanent move to the Riverside Stadium when he signed a four-year deal which will come into effect when his season-long loan ends in June.
That ended the hopes of any potential suitors who might have been ready to pounce on the man for whom Real Madrid paid Newcastle £13.4million in August 2004, and allowed Southgate to lay a firm foundation for his summer rebuilding project.
Southgate said: "Players want to play alongside good players and alongside top players, and having somebody like Jonathan at your club is a great attraction for other people who might want to come and play for us.
"Lots of people might have looked at it as the season went on and thought we would lose him to somewhere else. It is fantastic for us that we have managed to secure him.
"He made his mind up a while ago. He said to me he did not want to wait until it was perceived there were no other options for him.
"He made his decision at a time around about Christmas when there was a lot of attention around him, and he felt this was the place for him to come back and play."
In fact, Woodgate revealed he actually decided to make the switch to his hometown club permanent three months ago after fulfilling his childhood dream of playing for them.
When he arrived on Teesside to start a season-long loan spell in August last year, there were doubts about his fitness after a miserable run of luck in Spain which limited him to only a handful of games for Real.
However, he has started 33 of the 41 games Boro have played in the meantime and regained his place in the England squad, something he never doubted he could do.
Woodgate said: "I knew when I got myself fit, I would be selected for England. I knew I could get back to the top level.
"Working with the coaching staff and the manager at the club, they have spurred me on and got me to that level now."
Woodgate will resume Barclays Premiership battle when Tottenham visit the Riverside on Saturday and is assured of a rapturous welcome from the fans.
Chief executive Keith Lamb admitted the signing could be as significant as the £6.5million deal which brought Southgate to the club back in 2001.
He said: "It is a big signing. Gareth's was a major step forward for us, bringing somebody from what was then a top club at Aston Villa as a current England international.
"We have repeated that with Jonathan. It is a big signing for the football club.
"It is slightly different because we have had the advantage of having had Jonathan on board for a year, so we knew what we were getting."
By Bettingzone.co.uk
Used with permission.
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