Middlesbrough manager Chris Wilder says that Marcus Tavernier remains in his plans for now, but admits he has no guarantee the midfielder the will not leave the club.

Tavernier is currently a man in demand following his performances at The Riverside Stadium, with newly promoted Premier League side AFC Bournemouth keen on the 23-year-old.

It has already been reported that the Cherries have made a bid to sign the midfielder, who they apparently value at £12million.

As a result, it seems Wilder is far from certain about how much longer Tavernier will be a Middlesbrough player for, despite continuing to plan for his involvement going forward.

Speaking about the situation surrounding Tavernier, Wilder was quoted by The Northern Echo as saying:  “I’ve got to go into this next week and work on the assumption that it’s business as usual (with Tavernier). But we’re in that situation where anything can happen with anybody.

“Who knows what might happen? Something might come from leftfield, and who knows? We’ve got some good players.

“As I said in a previous interview, Liverpool lost (Sadio) Mane. They weren’t expecting to lose Mane, but they did. I imagine Jurgen Klopp and the board would not have expected to have lost their best player, but their best player went and they had to replace him.

“You’ve just got to realise that this is football, and anybody can go at any time during the window.”

Having come through the youth ranks at Middlesbrough, Tavernier has made 155 senior appearances in all competitions for the club, scoring 18 goals.

As things stand, there are just 12 months remaining on the midfielder's contract with Middlesbrough, which could make this their last chance to receive a fee for the 23-year-old.

The Verdict

This does feel like the right approach for Wilder to take with regards to Tavernier's Middlesbrough future.

In the transfer window, there can be no real certainty about what is going to happen to a player either way, so managers need to be prepared for all eventualities.

It appears as though Wilder is ensuring just that with his approach here, meaning his squad should still be able to do an effective job, even if Tavernier does move on this summer.

Even so, Wilder will no doubt want some clarification on this sooner rather than later, then he can start to move ahead with one specific plan he will hope to be able to employ for the rest of the season.