This week, it has emerged that Middlesbrough winger Stewart Downing has been training with the club's Under 23 squad, as his protracted move to Birmingham City stalls over his wage demands. 

The Teesside club, flush from their sensible management during their one season stay in the Premier League, do not need to sell, but the Blues have as yet failed to push through a deal for a man who would be earning more than their current highest earners, according to reports.

That has led to a suggestion that Boro would have to subsidise his wages, something they are understandably reluctant to do - no club wants to be paying a player who plays for another club, let alone a divisional rival.

Given the current lack of creativity in Harry Redknapp's squad, with livewire Che Adams the only one in his current ranks who looks capable of providing any invention, the former Tottenham Hotspur manager really should be telling his board to pay Downing what he is after.

It is unclear quite how Redknapp plans to secure Downing, and the deals he is reportedly persuing, for other Premier League veterans, such as LA Galaxy pair Ashley Cole and Robbie Keane, without relaxing his club's current pay structure.

Redknapp needs to either target younger blood - and he has left it rather late to scout and locate fresh new targets - who will demand less money or pay the experienced players he is in the market for what they're after.

Otherwise, he will start the season having not improved the quality of his playing staff to any great degree - and unlike Gary Rowett, who squeezed every last ounce from that squad, Redknapp is not a talented coach who can create a team to be greater than the sum of its parts. Which means it could be another long season at St Andrew's, if he fails to pay the money Downing, and other targets, require.

Birmingham fans - can you get Downing? Would you want him or do you want younger blood? Let us know in the comments below...